Last Day of the Sports Year

The sports year begins with football season in late August, goes through the fall, winter, and spring, and ends tonight with the final game of the College World Series.  Here are this year's major sports champions:

MLB:  Los Angeles Dodgers

NCAA Football:  Indiana Hoosiers

NFL Football:  Seattle Seahawks

NCAA Women's Basketball:  U.C.L.A. Bruins

NCAA Men's Basketball:  Michigan Wolverines

NCAA Softball:  Texas Longhorns

NBA:  New York Knicks

And so, today, we get the last game of the NCAA Baseball Championship between the Oklahoma Sooners and the North Carolina Tar Heels.  Oklahoma won the first game of the final series, 9 to 3.  But yesterday, North Carolina struck back for a 6-2 victory.  So tonight will be the title decider.

As you can tell from the list above, it's been a disappointing season for teams in the Classic SEC.  But it's been a pretty good year.  Both the World Series and the NBA Playoffs were particularly good.

College Baseball Update

We have had an extraordinary run of sports in June -- a tremendous NBA finals series, a bright start to the World Cup, and a thrilling U.S. Women's Golf Open.  So we haven't had as much time for NCAA Baseball as we would like.

After a barrage of upsets, the Classic SEC will miss the finals of the College World Series for the first time since 2018, when Oregon State beat Arkansas.  Since 2018, the Classic SEC had won the CWS six years in a row:

2019:  Vanderbilt

2020:  N/A

2021:  Mississippi St.

2022:  Mississippi

2023:  Louisiana St.

2024:  Tennessee

2025:  Louisiana St.

But not this year.  Here's what happened (seedings in parentheses):

BRACKET ONE:

(16) W. Virginia 7, Troy 5

(5) N. Carolina 6, Mississippi 2

Troy 12, Mississippi 8 (Mississippi eliminated)

(5) N. Carolina 5, (16) W. Virginia 2

(16) W. Virginia 12, Troy 0 (Troy eliminated)

(5) N. Carolina 12, (16) W. Virginia 7 (W. Virginia eliminated)

BRACKET TWO:

Oklahoma 9, (7) Alabama 0

(3) Georgia 7, (6) Texas 1

(6) Texas 14, (7) Alabama 2 (Alabama eliminated)

Oklahoma 4, (3) Georgia 3

(3) Georgia 2, (6) Texas 0 (Texas eliminated)

Oklahoma 11, (3) Georgia 4 (Georgia eliminated)

So it will be North Carolina v. Oklahoma in a best two-of-three playoff to wrap up the 2025-26 sports year.  Carolina has never won the CWS.  Oklahoma won it in 1951 and 1994.

College Baseball Update

Today in Bracket Two, we have the following matchups:

Texas v. Alabama

Oklahoma v. Georgia

And I just want to comment that at my age, I will never accept Texas and Oklahoma as members of the Southeastern Conference.

College Baseball Update

The Super Regionals turned out not to be as interesting as hoped.  Only one of the eight Super Regionals went three games, and many of the Super Regional games were blowouts.  Here are the results:

BRACKET ONE

Morgantown:  (16) W. Virginia beat Cal Poly 12-2, 17-1.

Troy:  Troy beat Ark-Little Rock 12-2, 7-2

Chapel Hill:  (5) N. Carolina beat U.S.C. 5-9, 4-0, 4-3

Auburn:  Mississippi beat (4) Auburn 6-4, 5-3

BRACKET TWO

Lawrence:  Oklahoma beat (15) Kansas 8-1, 13-2

Tuscaloosa:  (7) Alabama beat St. John's 8-0, 7-2

Austin:  (6) Texas beat (11) Oregon 11-3, 6-5

Athens:  (3) Georgia beat (14) Mississippi St 13-12, 11-9 (10 innings)

And that gives us the following matchups for Friday and Saturday in Omaha:

BRACKET ONE (Friday, June 12):

(16) W. Virginia v. Troy

(5) N. Carolina v. Mississippi

BRACKET TWO (Saturday, June 13):

(7) Alabama v. Oklahoma

(3) Georgia v. (6) Texas

Texas just won the Softball title.  Can they make a sweep?

College Baseball Update

There was no late drama last night.  USC pasted A & M 7-1, while Auburn buried Richie Cunningham's old school 8-3.  So the Super Regionals look like this (home team listed first):

BRACKET ONE:

(16) W. Virginia v. Cal Poly

Troy v. Ark-Little Rock

(5) N. Carolina v. So. California

(4) Auburn v. Mississippi

BRACKET TWO:

(15) Kansas v. Oklahoma

(7) Alabama v. St. John's

(6) Texas v. (11) Oregon

(3) Georgia v. (14) Mississippi St.

We have two all-SEC matchups and an all-Big 8 matchup.  We also get to watch at least two games in Troy, Alabama and two more in Morgantown, West Virginia.  I'm really looking forward to this.

College Baseball Update

Here's where the regionals stand:

BRACKET ONE

Los Angeles:  Won by Cal Poly.  (1) UCLA was eliminated by St. Mary's.

Morgantown:  (16) W. Virginia v. Kentucky for the title at 5 PM Central

Hattiesburg:  Won by Ark-Little Rock

Gainesville:  (8) Florida v. Troy for the title at 5 PM Central

Chapel Hill:  Won by (5) N. Carolina

College Station:  (12) Texas A & M v. USC for the title at 8 PM Central

Lincoln:  Won by Mississippi

Auburn:  (4) Auburn v. Milwaukee for the title at 4 PM Central

BRACKET TWO

Atlanta:  (2) Georgia Tech v. Oklahoma for the title at 2 PM Central

Lawrence:  Won by (15) Kansas

Tallahassee:  (10) Florida St. will play St. John's at 11 AM Central.  If the Johnnies win, they take the region.  If FSU wins, there will be a final elimination game to decide the title

Tuscaloosa:  Won by (7) Alabama

Austin:  Won by (6) Texas

Eugene:  Won by (11) Oregon

Starkville:  Won by (14) Mississippi St.

Athens:  Won by (3) Georgia

This will give us the following Super Regionals:

BRACKET ONE

(16) W. Virginia or Kentucky v. Cal Poly

(8) Florida or Troy v. Ark-Little Rock

(5) N. Carolina v. (12) Texas A & M or USC

(4) Auburn or Milwaukee v. Mississippi

BRACKET TWO

(2) Georgia Tech or Oklahoma v. Kansas

(7) Alabama v. (10) Florida St. or St. John's

(6) Texas v. (11) Oregon

(3) Georgia v. (14) Mississippi St.

College Baseball Update

UK just barely made it into the NCAA Baseball Tournament as the Number 3 seed in the Morgantown Region.  The Cats then beat Wake Forest 6-5, and beat West Virginia 11-9 to reach the regional final.  The Mountaineers took out Wake 10-5 in the losers' bracket to create a rematch with UK.  Going into the ninth inning, the Cats were up 9-6 and were three outs away from hosting a Super Regional.  Then the roof collapsed.  I don't know everything that happened, because I've just been watching the meltdown on Twitter.  I know there was an error by the third baseman to start the inning, and then two walks to load the bases.  At some point there was a sacrifice to make the score 9-8, and then a balk to make the score 9-9, and then WVU hit a two-run homer to take an 11-9 lead.

At that point, one of the Twitter accounts that usually follows college basketball tweeted out "FIRE MARK POPE!"  Which is fair.

College Baseball Update

Arkansas scores two runs in the top of the 9th to take a 5-3 lead.  In the bottom of the 9th, LSU has runners on first and second with one out.  The LSU batter hits what appears to be a game-ending double play, but the Arkansas shortstop throws to third for the force out there.  That was strange, but Arkansas still leads 5-3 with two outs and runners on first and second.

The next batter is LSU catcher Luis Hernandez, who rips a liner to left.  But it's staying up and it should end the game.  Unfortunately for Arkansas, the left fielder has completely misread the ball.  He started back, then dodged in and tripped.  The ball bounces off of his glove and bounds away.  Two runs score and the game is TIED at 5-all.  The LSU fans are in ecstasies.  Arkansas (which is 0-5 against LSU in Omaha) looks stunned.  The batter ends up at second.

The next LSU batter is first baseman Jared Jones, who homered in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at three.  The ESPN announcers unanimously want to walk Jones.  First base is open and a hit will end Arkansas' season.  The Razorbacks do not walk Jones.  At first, it appears that they are just going to throw him sliders out of the strike zone -- and the announcers, who are now quite worried about the mental state of the Arkansas fans -- can live with that.  But eventually, a pitch gets into the strike zone -- and Jones rips a liner toward center field.  A Razorback infielder is perfectly positioned, and he leaps up to make the catch -- but the ball tips off the very top of his glove and bounds into the outfield.  Hernandez trots home.  Arkansas, who could have ended the game with a double play -- and could have ended it again merely by catching a line drive that was hit straight at the left fielder -- is suddenly ELIMINATED.

The raw suffering of the Arkansas players and fans is so painful to watch on television that the announcers can't really celebrate LSU's comeback.  Instead, they reflect on how Arkansas managed to blow a two-run lead -- and the season -- in such a disastrous manner.

We all love sports, but sometimes they really hurt.  Arkansas will be back -- Arkansas always comes back.  But this game will leave a mark.

Meanwhile, LSU will play Coastal for the National Championship.

College Baseball Update

BRACKET ONE:

(13) Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4

(8) Oregon St. 4, Louisville 3

Louisville 8, Arizona 3 (Arizona eliminated)

(13) Coastal Carolina 6, (8) Oregon St. 2

Louisville 7, (8) Oregon St. 6 (Oregon St. eliminated)

BRACKET TWO:

(15) U.C.L.A. 6, Murray St. 4

(6) Louisiana St. 4, (3) Arkansas 1

(3) Arkansas 3, Murray St. 0 (Murray St. eliminated)

(6) Louisiana St. 9, (15) U.C.L.A. 5

Tomorrow Louisville will play Coastal -- the Cardinals have to beat Coastal twice before the Chanticleers beat them once.

Tonight Arkansas will play U.C.L.A. in an elimination game.

College Baseball Update

We're six games into the College World Series, and so far it looks like this:

BRACKET ONE:

(13) Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4

(8) Oregon St. 4, Louisville 3

Louisville 8, Arizona 3 (Arizona eliminated)

(13) Coastal Carolina 6, (8) Oregon St. 2

BRACKET TWO:

(15) U.C.L.A. 6, Murray St. 4

(6) Louisiana St. 4, (3) Arkansas 1

Murray survived an elimination game in the Regionals at Ole Miss, and survived two elimination games in the Super Regionals at Duke.  Now they have a very tough matchup this afternoon against an excellent Arkansas team.  Meanwhile, LSU and UCLA have a huge game tonight featuring two of the teams that have looked the best in the tournament so far.

More on the Super Regionals

Seven of the eight Super Regionals have been decided.  Here's where it stands:

LOUISVILLE SUPER REGIONAL:

Louisville 8, Miami (Fla.) 1

Miami (Fla.) 9, Louisville 6

Louisville 3, Miami (Fla.) 2

Louisville advances to the College World Series for the sixth time overall, and the first time since 2019.  The Cardinals have never won the title.

LOS ANGELES SUPER REGIONAL:

(15) U.C.L.A. 5, Tex-San Antonio 2

(15) U.C.L.A. 7, Tex-San Antonio 0

U.C.L.A. advances to the College World Series for the seventh time overall, and for the first time since 2013, the only time the Bruins won the title.

FAYETTEVILLE SUPER REGIONAL:

(3) Arkansas 4, (14) Tennessee 3

(3) Arkansas 11, (14) Tennessee 4

Arkansas advances to the College World Series for the 12th time overall, and for the first time since 2022.  The Razorbacks finished second in 1979 and 2018 -- 2018 was a real heartbreaker -- but they have never won the title.

AUBURN SUPER REGIONAL:

(13) Coastal Carolina 7, (4) Auburn 6 (10 innings)

(13) Coastal Carolina 4, (4) Auburn 1

Another SEC Team bites the dust.  Coastal Carolina advances to the College World Series for the second time overall, and for the first time since they won it all in 2016.

CHAPEL HILL SUPER REGIONAL:

(5) N. Carolina 18, Arizona 2

Arizona 10, (5) N. Carolina 8

Arizona 4, (5) N. Carolina 3

A hugely satisfying result in Chapel Hill.  Arkansas is the only top five seed left in the tournament.  Arizona advances to the College World Series for the 19th time overall, and the first time since 2021.  The Wildcats won the title in 1976, 1980, 1986, and 2012.

BATON ROUGE SUPER REGIONAL:

(6) Louisiana St. 16, W. Virginia 9

(6) Louisiana St. 12, W. Virginia 5

L.S.U. is the only member of the Classic S.E.C. to reach this year's College World Series.  L.S.U. advances to the College World Series for the 20th time overall, and the first time since 2023.  The Tigers won the title in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, and 2023.

DURHAM SUPER REGIONAL:

Duke 7, Murray St. 4

Murray St. 19, Duke 9

Game Three in the Durham Super Regional is scheduled for 6 P.M. Central today.  This game will be on ESPN, and will probably be the most high-profile game any sports team at Murray State has ever played.

CORVALLIS SUPER REGIONAL:

(8) Oregon St. 5, (9) Florida St. 4 (10 innings)

(9) Florida St. 3, (8) Oregon St. 1

(8) Oregon St. 14, (9) Florida St. 10

Another satisfying result.  With UNC, Texas, and FSU all eliminated before the CWS, I can really enjoy the competition.  Oregon St. advances to the College World Series for the eighth time overall, and the first time since 2018.  The Beavers won the title in 2006, 2007, and 2018.

Super Regionals

Here's where the Super Regionals stand in NCAA College Baseball:

LOUISVILLE SUPER REGIONAL:

Louisville 8, Miami (Fla.) 1

Miami (Fla.) 9, Louisville 6

Game Three at 11 AM Central tomorrow.

LOS ANGELES SUPER REGIONAL:

(15) U.C.L.A. and Tex-San Antonio play Game One at 6 P.M. Central tonight.

FAYETTEVILLE SUPER REGIONAL:

(3) Arkansas leads (14) Tennessee 4-2 in the seventh inning of the first game.

AUBURN SUPER REGIONAL:

(13) Coastal Carolina 7, (4) Auburn 6 (10 innings)

(13) Coastal Carolina 4, (4) Auburn 1 (Auburn eliminated)

CHAPEL HILL SUPER REGIONAL:

(5) N. Carolina 18, Arizona 2

Arizona 10, (5) N. Carolina 8

Game Three at 11 A.M. Central tomorrow

BATON ROUGE SUPER REGIONAL:

(6) Louisiana St. 16, W. Virginia 9

Game Two at 5 P.M. Central tomorrow

DURHAM SUPER REGIONAL:

Duke 7, Murray St. 4

Game Two at 11 A.M. Central tomorrow

CORVALLIS SUPER REGIONAL:

(8) Oregon St. 5, (9) Florida St. 4 (10 innings)

Game Two at 8 P.M. Central tonight

The Oxford Regional

Each season, the NCAA Baseball Tournament begins with 16 Regional Tournaments, each of which is hosted by one of the top 16 seeds in the field.  This year, Ole Miss -- the overall number 10 seed -- hosted a regional at Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi.  Swayze Field is very large by college baseball standards -- it can hold over 12,000 people, and the Ole Miss folks really cram the fans in there for big tournament games.  When Swayze Field is packed, and the bleacher fans are showering themselves with beer, Coke, and other drinks after every home run, it is one of the most intimidating places in college baseball.

And this year's Ole Miss team was quite good.  They went 40-19 in the regular season, and reached the final of the SEC Tournament.  Last weekend, they were the number 1 seed at home, and they were hosting the following teams:

Georgia Tech (40-17), the number 2 seed.

W. Kentucky (46-12), the number 3 seed and champion of Conference USA.

Murray St. (39-13), the number 4 seed and champion of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Together, these four teams played a double elimination tournament for the ages.

Game One:  The tournament opened on Friday afternoon with a pretty easy win for Georgia Tech, who beat W. Kentucky 9 to 2.  No drama so far.

Game Two:  On Friday night, in front of a packed stadium, Murray State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with two runs in the top of the 1st and two more in the top of the 2d.  But Ole Miss fought back with three runs in the 3d and two more in the 4th to take a 5-4 lead.  Just as the Ole Miss fans started to think they had the situation under control, Murray added one run in the 5th and another in the 6th to take a 6-5 lead.  But then Ole Miss responded with another run in the bottom of the 7th to tie things at 6.  However, Murray still wasn't finished.  The Racers took the lead in the top of the 8th with a two-out single, and added two more in the 9th with a two-out, bases loaded double from right fielder Dustin Mercer.  (Mercer was 4-5 with four doubles in this game).  Down 9-6 going into the bottom of the 9th, Ole Miss tried to rally.  A single and a double put Rebels on second and third with one out.  The next batter struck out, but the next was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  With the crowd going nuts, the next Rebel batter popped up, and Murray had a stirring 9-6 win.

Game Three:  On Saturday afternoon, Ole Miss took out its frustration on Western.  The Rebels led 8-3 after 6 1/2 innings, and held on for an 8-6 win.  That eliminated the Hilltoppers.

Game Four:  On Saturday night, with the Ole Miss fans mostly at home, Murray and Georgia Tech played another game for the ages.  Tech opened with three runs in the top of the first, but Murray responded with five runs in the bottom of the first.  The Racers then tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the fourth, and suddenly they led 10-3.  Amazingly, however, Tech then responded with SEVEN runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 10.  At this point, I assumed Murray was out of pitching.  But I was wrong.  Neither team scored in the sixth, but Murray took a 12-10 lead in the bottom of the 7th.  Tech responded with a run in the top of the 8th to make the score 12-11, but a Racer home run made the score 13-11 going into the 9th.  The Racers retired the first two Yellowjackets in the 9th, but Tech then got a walk and a double to leave the tying runners on second and third with two out.   However, Murray State struck out the last Tech batter to wrap up a stirring 13-11 victory and put themselves in the regional final.

Game Five:  On Sunday afternoon, Tech and Ole Miss met in an elimination game.  Amazingly, Tech again opened with three runs in the top of the first -- and again yielded five runs in the bottom of the first.  Tech rebounded, however, and led 8-6 after four.  From this point on, however, the Ole Miss pitching staff rallied, and Tech could get only one more run.  Meanwhile, the Rebels got two in the 5th, one in the 6th, one in the 7th, and one in the 8th for an 11-9 win that finally eliminated the Yellow Jackets.

Game Six:  So now Ole Miss had to beat Murray twice in two days to win the region, while the Racers only had to win once.  The Rebels got off to a good start on Sunday night.  They were up 15-6 after four innings, and they romped home with a 19-8 win.  In three games, Murray State's pitchers had allowed 36 runs.  But if the Racers could win Monday night's winner-take all final, they could still survive.

Game Seven:  And so, on Monday night, the Rebels and the Racers met for the third time in four days.  I don't think anyone who was there will forget it.  Murray led 5-0 after 2 1/2 innings, but the Rebels responded with one run in the bottom of the 3d and two more in the bottom of the fourth.  Leading 5-3 after 4, Murray exploded -- the Racers put up four runs in the 5th, one more in the 6th, and two more in the 7th.  Amazingly, the Racers now led 12-3 -- and they only needed nine outs to win the region.  Unfortunately, they were almost out of pitching.  Ole Miss scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th to make the score 12-8.  And the Rebels whacked a three-run homer in the 8th to make the score 12-11.  Ole Miss wasn't done.  The next two batters singled, and the Rebels suddenly had the lead run on base.  But somehow, Graham Kelham -- the same pitcher who had already given up six hits (including a three-run homer) -- struck out the next two Rebels to end the inning.  Murray couldn't do anything in the 9th, and Kelham had to defend that one-run lead in the bottom of the 9th.  He struck out the first two batters -- that's four strikeouts in a row.  And finally, the last batter flew out to center, and Murray had one of the greatest wins in its history:  12 to 11, and Regional Champs.

Murray State has had many great basketball team, but the Racers has never reached the round of 16 in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.  This year's baseball team, however, is one of the last 16 still playing.  The Racers are on their way to Durham, North Carolina, to face the Duke Blue Devils.  The Dukies pulled an upset of their own, beating Georgia on the Bulldogs' home field, and the Devils will be tough to beat at home.  But if Murray State can win two of three in Durham, they will go to Omaha for the College World Series.  How about that?

The Regionals were full of drama, and we can't do justice to them.  But here you can see the Super Regional matchups -- home teams listed first.  Each series is best two out of three.  The figures in parentheses represent the national seeds who are left:

BRACKET ONE:

Louisville v. Miami (Fla.)

(8) Oregon St. v. (9) Florida St.

(5) N. Carolina v. Arizona

(4) Auburn v. (13) Coastal Carolina

BRACKET TWO:

(15) U.C.L.A. v. Tex-San Antonio

Duke v. Murray St.

(6) Louisiana St. v. W. Virginia

(3) Arkansas v. (14) Tennessee

Tennessee Royalty

 In case you wondered who calls the tune in Big Orange Country, the following men are all seated in the same box in Omaha for the last game of the College World Series:  Rick Barnes, Peyton Manning, Josh Heupel, and Morgan Wallen.

College World Series Final: Game Two

Texas A & M beat Tennessee 9 to 5 in three hours and 50 minutes last night, but now the Aggies and the Vols are already back at it for Game Two.  Today the Aggies are the home team:  white uniforms with maroon pinstripes, the word "Aggies" in maroon script on the jersey, and maroon numerals.  UT has black hats (with orange logo), black shirts with VOLS in orange block print and orange numerals, and gray pants.  The Aggies look great, and I just don't like these Tennessee uniforms.

It is 86 degrees and clear in Omaha, and we have a huge crowd on what could be the last day of the CWS.  We'll be watching this one on ABC.

College World Series Final

Tonight, Tennessee and Texas A & M begin the last championship of the 2023-24 season, as they will play best two out of three for the NCAA Baseball Championship.  The game starts at 6:30 PM Central.

College World Series

Since weather prevented UK and Florida from playing their elimination game last night, today will see a triple-header in Omaha:

Game 10:  (2) Kentucky v. Florida, 10 A.M. Central (ESPN)

Game 11:  (8) Florida St. v. (1) Tennessee, 2 P.M. Central (ESPN)

Game 12:  Winner of Game 10 v. (3) Texas A & M, 6 P.M. Central (ESPN)

College World Series

With (an excellent) U.S. Open and (a really boring) NBA Finals out of the way, we can turn our attention to the last champion of the 2023-24 sports year:  the College World Series.  So far, it has been a thriller:

BRACKET ONE:

(4) N. Carolina 3 - 2 (12) Virginia

(1) Tennessee 12 - 11 (8) Florida St.

(8) Florida St. 7 - 3 (12) Virginia (Virginia eliminated)

(1) Tennessee 6 - 1 (4) N. Carolina

BRACKET TWO:

(2) Kentucky 5 - 4 (10) N. Carolina St. (10 innings)

(3) Texas A & M 3 - 2 Florida

Florida 5 - 4 (10) N. Carolina St. (N. Carolina St. eliminated)

(2) Kentucky 1 - 5 (3) Texas A & M

So Tennessee and Texas A & M are in the drivers' seats.  They get to take the day off and enjoy two elimination games.  I am very confident that the winner will be Tennessee, A & M, or UNC, but I don't know which of them it will be.

Golf, Baseball, and other stuff

Unless you count the Olympics, this is the last big sports weekend until September.  We have the U.S. Open in golf, we have the College World Series starting off in Omaha, and we have what may be the last of the NBA Finals.  We're going to mainly focus on the golf, with some cut-ins regarding the other events.

NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open doesn't start until noon Central, but here is the current leaderboard at Pinehurst No. 2:

1.  P. Cantlay:  -5 (18 holes)

T2.  R. McIlroy (NIR):  -4 (33)

T2.  T. Detry (BEL):  -4 (29)

T2.  L. Aberg (SWE):  -4 (18)

T5.  B. DeChambeau:  -3 (33)

T5.  M. Pavon (FRA):  -3 (18)

T7.  T. Pendrith (CAN):  -2 (30)

T7.  T. Finau:  -2 (18)

And then there's a nine-way tie at 1 under.

Scottie Scheffler is out of it, by the way.  He's 5 over through 33 holes, and at real risk of missing the cut.  It's a very poor performance from Scheffler, who shot an OK 71 yesterday, but who is 4 over through 15 holes today.

Xander Schauffele is 1 under for the day and 1 under for the tournament through 33 holes.

Wyndham Clark is probably out of it.  He's 1 over through 32 holes.  Jordan Spieth is 1 over through 31 holes, and I don't suppose we'll see much of him on the weekend either.

College Baseball Update

The seeded teams continue to do very well in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.  Only two of the Super Regionals went the full three games, only two were won by the visiting team, and only one unseeded team has reached the College World Series.  That team -- Florida -- reached the title series last year, so it's not exactly a shocker.  Here were the results from the Supers (home teams listed first):

(1) Tennessee 2 - 1 Evansville

(8) Florida St. 2 - 0 Connecticut

(12) Virginia 2 - 0 Kansas St.

(4) N. Carolina 2 - 0 W. Virginia

(2) Kentucky 2 - 0 (15) Oregon St.

(7) Georgia 1 - 2 (10) N. Carolina St.

(6) Clemson 0 - 2 Florida

(3) Texas A & M 2 - 0 Oregon

Classic SEC:  3 (Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida)

Classic ACC:  3 (N. Carolina, N. Carolina St., Virginia)

Classic Southwest:  1 (Texas A & M)

Classic Independent:  1 (Florida St.)

Congratulations to Kentucky, which reached the College World Series for the first time.  The Cats were the only team from the SEC (either the Classic or the Current Versions) that had never reached the CWS. Just a great, great year for the Cats.

So we will now have two double-elimination tournaments to decide who meets for the final.  Here are the first games in Bracket A:

(1) Tennessee v. (8) Florida St.

(4) N. Carolina v. (12) Virginia

And here are the openers in Bracket B:

(2) Kentucky v. (10) N. Carolina St.

(3) Texas A & M v. Florida

With this many strong teams making it to Omaha, the CWS should be very entertaining.  And we still have a chance that the last event featuring teams from the old SEC will come down to a final series between Kentucky and Tennessee.  That would be amazing.