Friday, May 29, 2009

The Greatest College Tournament Of The Year Starts Today!


That may seem like a biased headline...We won't lie...it is. We aren't going to apologize for our love for college baseball. We like this NCAA tournament more than the BCS and March Madness.

Tomorrows future stars will be on display for everyone to see over the next few weeks. I have been going to Omaha to watch the World Series since the 70's and I have never looked back. This tournament just gets better and better.

We just wish that the TV coverage of all rounds were being televised. It's better than years past, but I think the networks underestimate the sports consumer. You put every round of this on ESPN and cut between regionals like they do in basketball and "they most certainly will come".

There are some games on Comcast, and others that are being streamed via CBS sports on the internet. But the great college game deserves more. This is a game that has in recent years given us players like Evan Longoria, David Price, Joba Chamberlain, Pat Burrell, J.P. Howell, Ryan Garko, J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek, Troy Glaus, Khalil Greene, Lance Berkman, David Eckstein, Huston Street, Todd Helton, Eric Byrnes, Buster Posey and many more. They all competeted in this tourney and may have not reached the type of success they had in the majors without it.

So set your Tivo or other recording device to catch all of the action. If your son has dreams of playing baseball at the next level...this tournament is a good start to get excited about playing college ball.

Here's the Regional schedule...

2009 Regionals
Regionals are double elimination first-round pairings. Regionals take place May 29 - June 1.

Live play-by-play and statistics for all regional and super regional games will be available on ncaa.com. Game information will be updated directly from all 16 regional, eight super regional sites and all games from Omaha.

2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

Atlanta Regional
#1 Georgia Tech (35-17-1) vs. #4 Georgia St. (39-20)
#2 Elon (40-16) vs. #3 Southern Miss. (35-23)

Austin Regional
#1 Texas (41-13-1) vs. #4 Army (34-19)
#2 Texas St. (41-15) vs. #3 Boston College (33-24)

Baton Rouge Regional
#1 LSU (46-16) vs. #4 Southern U. (30-15)
#2 Minnesota (38-17) vs. #3 Baylor (29-24)

Chapel Hill Regional
#1 North Carolina (42-16) vs. #4 Dartmouth (27-16)
#2 Coastal Caro. (46-14) vs. #3 Kansas (37-22)

Clemson Regional
#1 Clemson (40-19) vs. #4 Tennessee Tech (30-22-1)
#2 Alabama (37-19) vs. #3 Oklahoma St. (32-22)

Fort Worth Regional
#1 TCU (36-16) vs. #4 Wright St. (33-28)
#2 Texas A&M (36-22) vs. #3 Oregon St. (35-17)

Fullerton Regional
#1 Cal St. Fullerton (42-14) vs. #4 Utah (26-29)
#2 Ga. Southern (42-15) vs. #3 Gonzaga (35-16)

Gainesville Regional
#1 Florida (39-20) vs. #4 Bethune-Cookman (32-26)
#2 Miami (FL) (36-20) vs. #3 Jacksonville (36-20)

Greenville Regional
#1 East Carolina (42-17) vs. #4 Binghamton (29-20)
#2 South Carolina (38-21) vs. #3 George Mason (42-12)

Houston (Rice) Regional
#1 Rice (39-15) vs. #4 Sam Houston St. (36-22)
#2 Kansas St. (41-16-1) vs. #3 Xavier (38-19)

Irvine Regional
#1 UC Irvine (43-13) vs. #4 Fresno St. (32-28)
#2 Virginia (43-12-1) vs. #3 Western Ky. (39-18)

Louisville Regional
#1 Louisville (44-15) vs. #4 Indiana (32-25)
# 2 Middle Tenn. (43-16) vs. #3 Vanderbilt (34-25)

Norman Regional
#1 Oklahoma (41-18) vs. #4 Wichita St. (30-25)
#2 Arkansas (34-22) vs. #3 Washington St. (31-23)

Oxford Regional
#1 Mississippi (40-17) vs. #4 Monmouth (32-23)
#2 Missouri (34-25) vs. #3 Western Ky. (39-18)

Tallahassee Regional
#1 Florida St. (42-16) vs. #4 Marist (31-26)
#2 Georgia (37-22) vs. #3 Ohio St. (40-17)

Tempe Regional
#1 Arizona St. (44-12) vs. #4 Kent St. (42-15)
#2 Oral Roberts (31-13) vs. #3 Cal Poly (37-19)

1 comment:

You Can Call Me Ray said...

If only more people would just tune in, they would be hooked. College baseball is the best NCAA sport. It's better than basketball and football. I'm a baseball fan, so I am biased. But at the very least, it is equal in stature and excitement to those sports, just like it is in the pro game. I have never understodd why the NCAA hasn't promoted college baseball. It's the amateur version of the pro game just like basketball and football and the NCAA does a great job of fan exposure to those sports. As popular as baseball is, I really wonder why the college game isn't treated the same way. Especially since there are so many future stars that will make it big in the majors. Liek you said in the article, look how many great players have played college baseball. They owe their success to their college and we as fans are the beneficiaries of that talent that has been drafted by our favorite MLB club (Go Rays)