The Oklahoma Sooners weren't even supposed to be on the bus to Omaha, but here they are in the driver's seat.
The unseeded Sooners proved Monday night that they're not only the hottest team in college baseball by dumping ice on No. 3 national seed Georgia in a nail-biting 4-3 win in the Men's College World Series, but they now have a better shot than anyone else in the country to win the national title after starting the tournament 2-0. According to the ESPN broadcast, 29 of the last 35 national champions began the MCWS at 2-0.
Oklahoma awaits Georgia or Texas while waiting in the dream CWS position
When Monday started, Georgia had the longest winning streak in college baseball at nine games after getting through the SEC Tournament, and to that point also the NCAA Tournament, unscathed. But now, it's the Sooners with the longest winning streak in the country at seven games in the midst of an unbelievable run. If that winning streak reaches 10, the Sooners will be national champions for the third time in school history.
No. 5 national seed North Carolina is sitting at 2-0 in the other bracket after beating Ole Miss and West Virginia so far. Troy is also still standing over there. The Tar Heels last lost in Game 1 of their own Super Regional to USC, 9-5. OU, meanwhile, waltzed through the Lawrence Super Regional against Kansas with an easy sweep. Everyone else but those two is either recovering from a loss or has won just one game.
The winner of each bracket will meet in the championship series, and the reality even before the MCWS started is that the SEC-loaded bracket with OU, Georgia and Texas would decide the champion, especially with Georgia and Texas going in with the second- and third-best national title odds, respectively.
It's the longshot Sooners who are now the last ones without a loss, but they're still battle-tested and have now taken out the No. 2, No. 3, No. 7 and No. 15 teams in the country during their winning streak. No. 16 West Virginia is the only other seeded team UNC has beaten in the NCAA Tournament.
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The Sooners are set up even more nicely beyond just the bracket and 2-0 start. Both starters in the MCWS so far for OU went at least seven innings and just one reliever was used in both wins. And by the time the Sooners have to take the field again on Wednesday after earning an extra day off, ace Cord Rager, the phenomenal freshman lefty, will already be on his fourth day of rest and the entire bullpen should also be ready to go.
Meanwhile, Georgia and Texas will play in an elimination game on Wednesday night while burning more pitching. Whoever wins there will need to beat the Sooners twice, with the first game coming at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN.
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