The opening weekend of the NCAA baseball tournament is in the books, and it was an entire library of them, from thrillers and superheroes to bizzarro mysteries.
Now, a Sweet 16 of teams roll into the super regionals with their eye-blacked faces pointed toward becoming a member of the latest octet to receive an invitation to Omaha, in what will be the 75th group to play in a Men’s College World Series on the banks of the Missouri River.
So, what should we all be looking for, looking to, looking at as the games begin Friday morning in Louisville? Read ahead. Because as my wife ignores me and watches “10 Things I Hate About You,” I am inspired to compile this list of 10 Things I Love About The 2025 Super Regionals, plus we have our MLB friends Kiley McDaniel and David Schoenfield to give us their top prospects and best current major leaguers for every team. — Ryan McGee
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10 Things I Love About The 2025 Super Regionals
1. See the stars of the MLB draft today!
The 2025 MLB first-year players draft takes place in a little more than a month, July 13-14, and according to McDaniel’s latest MLB mock draft, there are no fewer than eight first-rounders in action this weekend. What’s more, that group includes three of the top four, four of the top six, and seven of the top 17. That’s a lot. The group is led by Tennessee ace Liam Doyle, who not only earned the Vols’ first win of the Knoxville Regional, he also came out of the bullpen throwing heaters to scorch their path to the supers. Tennessee’s super regional alone will feature a gaggle of potential big-time big leaguers, as Doyle will face off against Arkansas right-hander and All-Name Team member Gage Wood, projected by McDaniel as the No. 7 pick, and SEC Player of the Year, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, whom McDaniel currently has as the No. 13 pick.
2. Defenders of the West
In the Omaha Baseball Village, the energized city of souvenir tents and beer gardens located adjacent to Charles Schwab field, there is always a huge map of the United States showing the locations of all eight MCWS schools and their distance from Omaha. There is no clearer illustration of how college baseball has become southeasterly dominated, seeing all of those SEC and ACC logos tipping the scale to one side while in recent seasons there has been a striking lack of teams west of Texas. That drought has rightfully become a source of soreness for a time zone that ruled the postseason for decades, powered by USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Cal State Fullerton, Stanford and rotating visits from seemingly every school in the state of California. This weekend three programs are the defenders of the West, as No. 8 Oregon State hosts No. 9 Florida State and Arizona travels to No. 5 North Carolina on Friday, and then No. 15 UCLA hosts UTSA beginning Saturday.
3. Roadrunners in glass slippers
Part of the charm of the MCWS is that no matter how top-loaded it has been over the years, there is always a Cinderella that crashes the ball, from Harvard to Maine to an alphabet soup of UC schools to the legendary 2008 Fresno State Underdogs to Wonderdogs. It is perhaps my favorite part of covering the event, watching a program make it to Omaha for the first time. And there is a bucket full of candidates in the field this weekend. UTSA stunned Texas in Austin and now travels to Westwood seeking its first MCWS berth. Same for West Virginia, making its second supers appearance (its first was last year), as it heads into the Cajun pressure cooker of Alex Box Stadium. Meanwhile, Murray State will be playing its inaugural supers against Duke, which has been to Omaha before, but the most recent of the Blue Devils’ three visits was in 1961.
4. Some head coach’s coaching head is going to come to a head and explode
Anyone seeking evidence of the pressure that these head coaches are under need to look no further than Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan’s multilocation meltdown at Coastal Carolina over a one-hour scheduling change, or notoriously mild-mannered Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter having to issue an apology for letting loose a slur as the Demon Deacons were in the process of having their season ended in Knoxville. Walter says he says he doesn’t even remember saying it in the heat of the moment. So, who’s going to lose it next? There would seem to be some easy candidates to pick (no offense, Tony Vitello), but if we learned anything over the opening weekend, it’s that we have no idea what volcano has been idling without us knowing.
5. ‘Ease his Woo Pig pain’
Omaha isn’t in Iowa, but you can see it from there. So, it is impossible not to think of “Field of Dreams” when all of that baseball is being played adjacent to all of that corn. Especially when the voice says to Ray, “Ease his pain,” and it immediately makes me think of Dave Van Horn, head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. He has coached nine teams to the MCWS, the first two being Nebraska Cornhuskers teams in 2001-02 that turned Rosenblatt Stadium a shade of Big Red as tens of thousands of football jersey-wearing Huskers fans lined up for day-of general admission tickets. His next six visits have come with Arkansas, the second-best college program never to win a natty, punctuated by its 2018 runner-up effort that is still too painful to watch. But before DVH and WPS can think about Omaha, they have to deal with Tennessee, aka the defending national champs, aka another program that was on that “How have they never won it all?” list until finally getting it done one year ago.
6. So, who is No. 1 that list?
If the Hogs are the second-best program to never win it all, who is first? That would be the Florida State Seminoles, who rank third all time in MCWS appearances with 24 but are the only team among the top 11 in Omaha visits to not have won at least one title. This year, the Seminoles are led by pitcher Jamie Arnold, who ranks No. 1 on McDaniel’s top 150 MLB prospects list. That’s nothing new for a program that has brought us more than 100 All-Americans and 50-plus big leaguers, from Buster Posey to J.D. Drew to Deion Sanders. But none of those guys have a ring. Perhaps this is the team that can change that.
7. ACC vs. SEC
Slightly more than half of the teams remaining — nine of 16 — are from two conferences, the SEC and ACC. It’s no secret that the SEC has ruled the sport in recent years — six of the past seven champions and at least one team in 14 of the past 15 championship series. But the ACC believes that it has been closing that southern hardball gap and it might be right. A year ago, the entire MCWS field comprised teams from those adjacent conferences, though the ACC was sent packing quickly. After the SEC stumbled through the regional round, it pushed only four of 13 teams into supers while the ACC graduated five. A pair of series are familial, as Tennessee faces Arkansas and Miami travels to Louisville, so each league is guaranteed to have at least one team in Omaha. Grab some SPF and stay tuned.
8. The Triangle becomes The Diamond
The state of North Carolina has always been baseball obsessed, from the coast to the Appalachians. But none of those teams have ever brought a MCWS title back to Tobacco Road, though more than a few times have come painfully close. See: UNC losing back-to-back to Oregon State 2006-07, NC State being undone by COVID-19 in 2021. Now two campuses that sit only 10 miles apart, UNC and Duke, will be hosting super regionals, the Heels against Arizona beginning Friday at noon ET, the Blue Devils kicking it off against Murray State 13 hours later in Durham. I grew up in Raleigh and went to a ton of games at both ballparks as a kid in the 1980s, and between them and NC State, there might be a few dozen people there, basically me, my family, a few scouts and the families of the players. This is a long way from that.
9. Return of the Chanticleers
One of the greatest college baseball stories ever was when Coastal Carolina won it all in 2016, led by one of the sport’s most beloved human beings in longtime head coach Gary Gilmore. It was one year ago that Gilmore stepped down after a run to the NCAA regionals, to focus on his family and his ongoing cancer treatment (read more about that in our story from spring 2024). Now Gilmore’s former catcher and longtime assistant coach Kevin Schnall, in his first year at the helm, has the Chants back in the supers for the first time since 2016. They travel to Auburn, no easy task, but it’s great for the sport to have the teal team from South Carolina’s Grand Strand back in the national conversation.
10. It’s a party in the USA
No matter where you live, what school you root for, or even if you pay attention to college baseball only in June, make sure to take the time this weekend to truly revel in what the sport has become. Try to sniff that spicy steam rising from all of those pots cooking up all of that gumbo in the parking lots around The Box at LSU. Watch the sea of flags waving from the left-field Hog Pen as 13,000 Arkansas fans chant “Woo Pig Sooie!” Gasp at the botanical gardens-like greenery that drapes over the walls of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium. Listen to the stomping of the aluminum grandstands of Oregon State’s intimate Goss Stadium. The Carolina pine needles that adorn the Bosh in Chapel Hill. Bo Jackson hanging out at Auburn’s Plainsman Park, still looking as if he could jack one out over the 37-foot high War Eagle Wall in left field. Omaha is Omaha. Nothing is better. But this is college baseball’s weekend to show off the magic of the on-campus baseball experience. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. — McGee
Louisville Super Regional (Louisville, Kentucky)
Louisville Cardinals
Top prospect: Patrick Forbes, RHP
Forbes has a distinctive delivery, a low three-quarters arm slot with a heater that sits 94-97 mph (and can hit 100) and has helped him flummox hitters this year to the tune of 98 strikeouts in 60⅓ innings. — Kiley McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
Louisville has been a catching factory in recent years, producing Smith; 2021 No. 1 pick Henry Davis; and Dalton Rushing, recently called up by the Dodgers. Smith, a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, has been one of the top catchers in the majors since his debut in 2019, and he already ranks as the best major leaguer Louisville has ever produced. — David Schoenfield
Miami Hurricanes
Top prospect: Daniel Cuvet, 3B (2026)
Cuvet has been known to scouts for years for his raw power, but his price wasn’t met out of high school due to concerns on his contact rate and defense at third base, which is basically still the scouting report. He finished the season strong and has a solid shot to go in the first round next summer. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Romy Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
Only five Miami players have appeared in the majors in 2025 — Gonzalez and four pitchers who haven’t pitched that much, so Gonzalez gets the nod. Keep an eye on Adrian Del Castillo, who debuted last season for the Arizona Diamondbacks but dealt with a shoulder injury in spring training and is just returning to action. He can rake, although his best position might be designated hitter. The best major leaguer in Hurricanes history is another slugger: 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun. — Schoenfield
Corvallis Super Regional (Corvallis, Oregon)
No. 9 Florida State at No. 8 Oregon State
1:22
Oregon State breaks game open with back-to-back jacks
Oregon State breaks game open with back-to-back jacks
No. 9 Florida State Seminoles
Top prospect: Jamie Arnold, LHP
Arnold opened the year as the top prospect in the 2025 MLB draft and has been a bit up and down, but he is a lock for the top 10 picks because of his plus stuff coming from a tough low three-quarters arm slot. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Raleigh, a third-round pick in 2018, is off to a historic start for the Mariners, tied with Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead with 23 home runs while producing an OPS over 1.000 (no catcher has done that since Joe Mauer in 2009). That puts Raleigh on pace to set the single-season record for home runs by a catcher. Another catcher ranks as the best major leaguer in FSU history: future Hall of Famer Buster Posey. — Schoenfield
No. 8 Oregon State Beavers
Top prospect: Aiva Arquette, SS
Arquette is securely in the mix at almost every pick in the top 10, and he is the only college position player sure to go that high. Some scouts think he moves to third base eventually, and there’s some concern he’s just an average on-base threat who will have to rely on his plus power, though he’s still a good player. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians
Kwan and Adley Rutschman led the Beavers to the 2018 Men’s College World Series title and both debuted in the majors in 2022. Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in 2019, has been the bigger name, but Kwan has the higher career WAR, and he has certainly been better than Rutschman in 2024 and so far in 2025. You have to give the nod to Kwan. Jacoby Ellsbury is still the top all-time OSU player, but Kwan and Rutschman both have the chance to eventually overtake him. — Schoenfield
Chapel Hill Super Regional (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Arizona at No. 5 North Carolina
0:38
Maddox Mihalakis cranks a homer
Arizona Wildcats
Top prospect: Brendan Summerhill, OF
Summerhill can really hit and has above-average to plus power, speed and arm strength, which is why he should go in the middle of the first round. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Austin Wells, New York Yankees
Nine former Arizona players have appeared in the majors this year, and while Tylor Megill is pitching very well for the Mets, catchers are hard to find, and Wells is a good one. He finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting last year and is flashing more power so far in 2025, although he’s hitting just .212. The best major leaguer ever is a tough call between Hall of Fame reliever Trevor Hoffman (who was an infielder in college) and six-time All-Star center fielder Kenny Lofton (who also starred on the basketball team in college). Hard to deny a Hall of Famer, but Lofton could get there someday — as could Terry Francona as a manager. — Schoenfield
No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels
Top prospect: Luke Stevenson, C
Stevenson has some issues with bat-to-ball (maybe he’s a .240 hitter in the big leagues?), but he’s arguably above average to plus at everything else on the field, so he seems likely to go in the back half of the first round.– McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
Gallen is off to a slow start with Arizona this season, but he has been a top starter for several years now, finishing third in the 2023 Cy Young voting and fifth in 2022. He’s already third on the all-time career WAR list from UNC, but still significantly behind Kyle Seager and B.J. Surhoff, who run a close 1-2. Surhoff was the top pick in the 1985 draft — ahead of Will Clark, Barry Larkin and some guy named Barry Bonds. — Schoenfield
Auburn Super Regional (Auburn, Alabama)
No. 13 Coastal Carolina at No. 4 Auburn
No. 13 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Top prospect: Caden Bodine, C
Bodine is an advanced framer who’s a switch-hitter with an incredible feel for contact — he swung and missed at 4% of pitches faced this season — who fits somewhere from the late first to early second round. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Anthony Veneziano, Miami Marlins
Veneziano and fellow reliever Garrett McDaniels are the only CC players to appear in the majors in 2025. Veneziano has pitched more, although he’s currently in the minors after posting a 4.86 ERA in 20 appearances with Miami. He does have one of the two career wins by a Coastal Carolina player in the majors (Keith Hessler has the other). We’ll give best all-time major leaguer to longtime catcher Kirt Manwaring, who played 13 seasons from 1987 to 1999. — Schoenfield
No. 4 Auburn Tigers
Top prospect: Ike Irish, OF
Irish probably will go back to playing catcher once he turns pro, but right now he’s one of the top pure hitters in the country, and he has plus power, a package that probably will land him in the first round. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers
The former No. 1 pick is finally living up to initial expectations after sitting out 2023 because of Tommy John surgery and returning last season. He’s 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA, part of a stellar Detroit pitching staff. Bo Jackson is the most famous Auburn baseball alum, of course, but he ranks behind Hall of Famer Frank Thomas (not to mention Tim Hudson and former MVP Josh Donaldson) on the all-time list. — Schoenfield
Los Angeles Super Regional (Los Angeles, California)
0:45
Mulivai Levu smashes home run vs. UC Irvine
UTSA Roadrunners
Top prospect: Robert Orloski, RHP (2026)
UTSA isn’t flush with pro prospects like some other programs in the supers, but Orloski is a pro prospect in next year’s class. He’s the Roadrunners’ valuable multi-inning relief ace, up to 96 mph with a top-of-the-zone heater. — McDaniel
No current major leaguers
Only two UTSA players have reached the majors: John Bormann, who had one plate appearances with the Pirates in 2016, and pitcher Justin Anderson, who had a 4.39 ERA in 50 appearances with the White Sox last season but is currently in the minors. — Schoenfield
UCLA Bruins
Top prospect: Roch Cholowsky, SS (2026)
Cholowsky was a borderline first-round prospect out of high school for many teams, but his price wasn’t met. He’s now arguably the top college prospect for next year’s draft, and he should be in the mix to go No. 1 overall for the next 12 months. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
Cole is out for the season following Tommy John surgery, but is the clear standout from a group that includes nine Bruins who have played in the majors this season. Greatest Bruin ever? Cole has an argument with 153 wins and a Cy Young Award, and Chase Utley may make the Hall of Fame, but the answer has to be Jackie Robinson. Aside from his historical importance, he was one of the greatest second basemen of all time, leading the NL three times in WAR. –– Schoenfield
Durham Super Regional (Durham, North Carolina)
Murray State Racers
Top prospect: Will Vierling, C
I noted that there isn’t a pitcher on the Murray State staff who averaged 92 mph on their fastball this season, which helps underline that the Racers aren’t flush with pro prospects. Vierling is the cousin of Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling and is a later-round prospect for this year’s draft. — McDaniel
No current major leaguers
The Racers have five former players in the minors, but their last big leaguer was Kirk Rueter, who won 130 games in the majors in a fine career that lasted from 1993 to 2005 — not bad for a soft-tossing lefty who was an 18th-round draft pick. — Schoenfield
Duke Blue Devils
Top prospect: A.J. Gracia, OF (2026)
Gracia got off to a slow start this season, but he caught fire in April as he dialed in his swing — he has a 1.307 OPS in his past 28 games, all but a few against SEC and ACC competition. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Marcus Stroman, New York Yankees
It has been a tough year for Duke alumni in the majors as Stroman is currently injured, Griffin Conine is out for the year after getting off to a nice start with the Marlins, and Matt Mervis and Graham Pauley are back in the minors after starting the season with Miami (the Marlins apparently love their Duke players). The greatest Blue Devil of all time is an easy call: Dick Groat, a two-time All-American in basketball in 1951 and ’52 and the UPI national player of the year in 1952, who went straight to the Pittsburgh Pirates out of college and won NL MVP honors in 1960. — Schoenfield
Baton Rogue Super Regional (Baton Rogue, Louisiana)
2:13
Highlight: LSU blows past Little Rock with hot bats, heads to Super Regional
The 6-seed Tigers rack up four homers with a pair by Luis Hernandez and one by Ethan Frey, who went 4-for-4 on the day, in their 10-6 regional finale win over the Trojans.
West Virginia Mountaineers
Top prospect: Chase Meyer, RHP (2026)
Meyer is a reliever who sits 92-96 and touches 98 mph, but his best pitch is his 83-87 mph curveball that averages over 3000 rpm, and opposing batters are hitting .133 against it.– McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Victor Scott II, St. Louis Cardinals
The speedy Scott struggled when he was rushed to the majors last season, but he has settled in this season and is holding his own at the plate while playing an outstanding center field. Leaving aside “Piano Legs” Hickman, who attended WVU in the 1890s, the best modern big leaguer comes down to reliever Steve Kline or infielder Jedd Gyorko. In other words, Scott has a chance to surpass both thanks to his great defense. — Schoenfield
No. 6 LSU Tigers
Top prospect: Kade Anderson, LHP
Anderson has been red hot down the stretch and might have snuck ahead of Doyle and Arnold as the top college pitcher in the draft. All three are in supers and the margins are tight. Anderson seems like the safest bet to be a good starting pitcher, but his upside is more second/third starter than ace.– McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
The LSU program has pumped out 12 current big leaguers, and while Alex Bregman and Aaron Nola have certainly had the better careers so far, Skenes is the man of the moment, perhaps on his way to the Cy Young Award in his first full season in the majors. The best Tiger ever is a good argument between Bregman, Albert Belle and Nola, with Bregman holding the slight edge over Belle in career WAR. Considering he should have many good years still ahead, let’s go with him, even though Belle was one of the most feared sluggers of the 1990s. — Schoenfield
Fayetteville Super Regional (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
No. 14 Tennessee at No. 3 Arkansas
No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers
Top prospect: Liam Doyle, LHP
Doyle is a lock to go somewhere in the top five to seven picks because of his plus stuff and otherworldly numbers this season. He might be able to pitch his way into the top two picks with a strong finish to the season. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
Primarily a reliever for the Vols, the White Sox drafted Crochet No. 11 in 2020 and promoted him directly to the big leagues that summer. Tommy John surgery interrupted his career, but the White Sox turned him into a starter last season, and Crochet became one of the top aces in the majors, continuing to dominate in 2025 after a trade to the Red Sox. Greatest Vol ever? Easy: Hall of Famer Todd Helton. — Schoenfield
No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks
Top prospect: Gage Wood, RHP
I’ve been saying for about a month that Wood could be this year’s Cade Horton, making a late season move into the first round. He struck out 13 in six innings in regionals, sitting 95-97 and hitting 98 mph. — McDaniel
Best current major leaguer: Andrew Benintendi, Chicago White Sox
Benintendi still gets the nod here, even though his best seasons came in his first two full seasons with the Red Sox back in 2017 and ’18. Best in Arkansas history goes to Cliff Lee, one of the top starters in the majors from 2008 through 2013 (including a Cy Young Award in 2008), before injuries shortened his career. — Schoenfield
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