Bracket two of the 2017 Men’s College World Series includes Texas A&M, Louisville, TCU and Florida.
These four teams have made a combined 26 appearances in the College World Series. Florida leads this group with 11 trips to the College World Series. The Gators and Horned Frogs are the only teams in the entire field making a return trip to the College World Series from last year.
None of the teams in bracket two have won a College World Series title.
This bracket features three national seeds with Florida at three, TCU at six and Louisville at seven.
Here is a quick preview of each team, followed by a prediction for this bracket.
Texas A&M (41-21)
After losing their only game in the SEC Tournament, the Aggies have won five straight to advance to the College World Series. It wasn’t easy against Davidson in the super regionals. Texas A&M blew a 6-run lead in game one only to win in extra innings. And then it took a 7-run eighth inning in game two to come back and beat Davidson 12-6. Brigham Hill and Corbin Martin have been really good in the starting rotation for Texas A&M, along with Cason Sherrod and Kaylor Chafin out of the bullpen. The offense is not bad either with Braden Shewmake and Nick Choruby. Both have been exceptional in the postseason, and they’ll need that success to continue in the College World Series if they’re going to contend for the title.
Louisville (52-10)
The pitching for Louisville was unbelievable in the super regionals as they held Kentucky – one of the best offensive teams in the country – to just 4 runs in two games. That staff is led by Brendan McKay who was just selected fourth overall in the MLB Draft. McKay is also a huge bat for the Cardinals, but Drew Ellis leads the offense with a .367 average, 55 runs, 20 home runs and 61 RBI. Ellis started out the postseason a little cold, but exploded against Kentucky in the super regionals. This team has what it takes to win this College World Series.
TCU (47-16)
A lot of people didn’t think the Horned Frogs could get this far without its star hitter in Luken Baker, but Evan Skoug has filled the void. Skoug has a home run in 4-of-5 games this postseason, and has 12 RBI in those games. Of course, TCU would still love to have Baker in this lineup with Skoug, but baseball isn’t fair sometimes. The pitching was really good against Missouri State in the super regionals holding one of the most powerful offenses in the country to just 3 runs in two games. Jared Janczak leads the Horned Frogs with a 1.97 ERA in 82.1 innings pitched with 91 strikeouts. Never count this team out in Omaha.
Florida (47-18)
I don’t know that anyone has struggled to get to the College World Series more than Florida. They were pushed to a game seven in the regionals by Bethune-Cookman, and had to play all three games in the super regionals against Wake Forest. The Gators have certainly been living on the edge this postseason, but here they are. And they are here because they possess the best pitching staff in the country. There are four pitchers that the Gators will rely on to win this College World Series: Alex Faedo, Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar and Michael Byrne. Those four have the potential to shut down any lineup, but the question is whether or not they can score. If the bats can get going, the Gators can make a run in Omaha.
Bracket 2 Prediction
Louisville is the clear favorite in this bracket. I would be pretty surprised if the Cardinals don’t advance out of this bracket. However, I would not be shocked if either TCU or Florida finds a way to win this bracket. I just can’t trust the Gators offense right now, and TCU is not as dangerous without Baker. No disrespect to Texas A&M, but they don’t scare me in this bracket. I think Louisville is the most complete team in this bracket and advances the College World Series final.
Winner: Louisville
