With a go-ahead home run in the 8th inning on Monday night against Duke, Murray State shocked the college baseball world and secured its place in Omaha at the College World Series. The Racers, a 4-seed in the Oxford Regional, beat Ole Miss twice to get to the Supers, then beat Duke in Durham.
In doing so, Murray State became just the fourth No. 4 seed to advance to the College World Series.
This year’s CWS will also be the first since 1957 that won’t include a single team that made it to Omaha the year prior. In total, only 1 of the top 5 national seeds reached the CWS — the lowest in a season since 2014.
The tournament has been chaotic up to this point. The SEC hosted 8 of the 16 Regionals and only 4 of those teams made it to the Supers.
In Omaha, the 8 CWS participants will represent 6 conferences. The SEC (Arkansas and LSU) is the only league with multiple teams, but the SEC also sent 13 teams to the field so that’s not a surprise.
So far, this tournament has been characterized by chaos. Will that continue in Omaha?
Odds to win the 2025 Men’s College World Series
- Arkansas: +210
- LSU: +240
- Oregon State: +550
- Coastal Carolina: +600
- Arizona: +800
- UCLA: +900
- Louisville: +1100
- Murray State: +4000
odds via bet365
Picks to win the 2025 Men’s College World Series
The last time only 1 national top-5 seed made it to the CWS, that team played for the national title. In 2014, Virginia advanced to the CWS as the national No. 3 seed. The Cavaliers then won their first 3 games in Omaha only to be upset by Vanderbilt in a dramatic 3-game final.
Arkansas is this year’s national No. 3 seed and the only top-5 team to make the CWS. The Razorbacks are also the betting favorite in most markets. The Razorbacks are 48-13 on the season and won 20 games in league play. They lead all CWS participants in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.
The Razorbacks breezed through the Regionals and then blasted Tennessee in Game 2 of the Fayetteville Super Regional to knock out the defending champs. Arkansas is peaking right now, and it has a collection of hitters who can break a game open in an instant.
They are a deserving favorite.
But I’m backing LSU.
Coach Jay Johnson has the Tigers back in the CWS for a 19th time in program history. This is a program that knows how to win on this stage, as LSU’s 7 national championships since 1990 are nearly equal to the combined championships won by the 7 other 2025 CWS participants during that span (8 total). The Tigers also have 48 wins on the season and won 19 games against SEC competition.
A Regional final scare from Little Rock raised some eyebrows, but LSU quickly quieted fears by battering West Virginia in the Supers. The Tigers scored 16 and 12 runs in consecutive games to take the series in dominant fashion. West Virginia combined for 14 runs across the 2 games, but neither affair was nearly as competitive as the final score would indicate.
LSU has averaged 10.2 runs per game this postseason. In just the 2-game series against West Virginia, LSU had 4 home runs and 18 hits. Derek Curiel (.467), Jared Jones (.389), Jake Brown (.364), and Steven Milam (.333) have all been hot at the plate over the last 4 games, with each having a home run during that span.
In its postseason wins so far, LSU has a 7-run inning, a pair of 6-run innings, and a 5-run inning. The Tigers also have 7 innings with at least 3 runs scored across all 6 postseason games. They can pounce on opponents and churn out gruelingly long innings.
That makes them the most dangerous team in the field. Because LSU also has a pair of outstanding arms that can carry it in Omaha.
Kade Anderson has given the Tigers 7 innings in each of his 2 postseason starts. Anthony Eyanson went 7.2 innings in his first start and then 5 innings in his second. He also earned his second save of the season in the decisive 10-6 win over Little Rock. Those 2 have combined to strike out 35 batters while giving up 10 earned runs across their postseason appearances.
West Virginia got to Anderson for a season-high 9 hits and 6 earned, but Anderson also took a 10-1 lead into the sixth that day. The top of the rotation is as good as any left in the field, and LSU’s bullpen should get some favorable spots to close out games.
With a team ERA of 3.80, LSU is one of the top pitching teams left in the field. And it has 6 batters throughout the order who are north of .300 on the season. LSU has to deal with Arkansas on its side of the bracket, but I like the Bayou Bengals, who took 2 of 3 off the Razorbacks in the regular season.
Bet LSU +240 (via bet365) to win outright
I’m also looking at Coastal Carolina on the other side of the bracket. The Chanticleers are the hottest team in baseball right now, winners of 23-straight games to secure their first trip to the CWS since winning it all in 2016.
Coastal Carolina ripped through its regional (10-2, 18-7, 1-0) and then shut down Auburn to knock out the national No. 4 seed. The Tigers were limited to just 1 run in the decisive Game 2 and never got the bats consistently going. Auburn had 8 hits that day, but only once did it find a multi-hit inning.
The Chants are averaging 8 runs per game in the postseason and they are getting an average of 6.1 innings per start from a 3-man pitching rotation of Cameron Flukey (3.24 ERA), Jacob Morrison (2.15 ERA), and Riley Eikhoff (2.90 ERA). Out of the pen, Ryan Lynch has 8 saves and 34 strikeouts in 30.2 innings this season with a 0.59 ERA.
Charles Schwab Field historically plays well to pitchers. CWS teams last year averaged just 5.1 runs per game. The Chanticleers have answered any question about how their pitching would translate in the NCAA Tournament, but there does remain a concern about their hitting.
Coastal Carolina ranks 87th nationally in hitting and 125th in slugging. Against teams that rank top-50 in ERA this season, Coastal has averaged 4.9 runs per game while batting .247.
Against elite arms, will the Chants be able to score enough? If so, they have the pitching staff to challenge for a title.
Bet Coastal Carolina +650 (via FanDuel) to win outright
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Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
