[Bluecat]

For you guys that follow the CWS closer than I do, why does a win tonight all but guarantee the finals for our Cats?

The loser will have to play tomorrow against Florida in loser's bracket. Winner gets an off day. The winner of the loser's bracket game tomorrow will have to beat tonight's winner twice to make it to the Finals whereas the winner tonight will only have to win one more game.

[Old School Hound]

For you guys that follow the CWS closer than I do, why does a win tonight all but guarantee the finals for our Cats?

The loser will have to play tomorrow against Florida in loser's bracket. Winner gets an off day. The winner of the loser's bracket game tomorrow will have to beat tonight's winner twice to make it to the Finals whereas the winner tonight will only have to win one more game.

Thank you!!!  GO CATS!!!

[Ring'Em Up]

I get sick of hearing, mostly from opposing fans, (especially Tennessee fans) how since it’s UK’s first time there the moment will be too big for them. If I’m not mistaken, our volleyball team just a few years ago had never been to Final Four, but won it all the first (and only) time they got there.  Talent, mixed with a little swagger, can overcome a lot. This is a coin flip game tonight, but if we pull this one out, we are going to the final series, take that to the bank.

UT received an absolute gift in their first game of this CWS. By all rights, they lost that game. Screw them.

lies.  Learn baseball.

[Cactus Jack]

For you guys that follow the CWS closer than I do, why does a win tonight all but guarantee the finals for our Cats?

A loss means going into the loser's bracket and playing Florida tomorrow at 6 pm in an elimination game. From there, you'd need to beat the winner of this game twice, with those games being played Wednesday and Thursday. In essence, you'd need to play four straight days and win each of the last three.

The winner of this game gets tomorrow off, so more rest for your team (and most importantly, your pitching staff).

I don't know the odds or statistics, but I'd have to imagine that this is the most high leverage game of the tournament as far as your team's chances of winning your bracket and getting to the final goes.

I guess I could see the argument that you'd rather win your first game than this one to avoid being in elimination mode for four straight games instead of three, but that extra game would be against another loser, and in theory, a weaker opponent. I'd still imagine that most who've pulled that off either got extremely hot late or threw off (i.e., threw their #2, #3, or #4 pitcher) against a weaker opponent in Game 1 and just got upset.


Hope I'm not butchering this one (and someone can fact check me) but I think this College World Series format began in 1998. From 1988-1997, it was the same as the current format but the final was a single game instead of the best of three. There have been some modifications to the seeding and Super Regionals in that span though.

In the history of the CWS, 12 teams have lost their first game and went on to win the tournament. Four have done so since 1980. Oregon State (2018) is the most recent. Southern California (1998), Oregon State (2006), and South Carolina (2010) are the remaining three.