Talk of power conferences taking over the College World Series was premature judging by 2025 field

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Six conferences and an independent will be represented at the College World Series, and none of the teams were among the final eight in Omaha a year ago.

In 2024, the SEC and ACC had four teams apiece in the CWS and all the talk was that college baseball would forevermore be dominated by the schools in those conferences that invest the most in the sport in scholarships, NIL and, starting soon, direct payments to players.

Someone forgot to tell that to Murray State, among others.

The CWS opens Friday with the Sun Belt Conference’s Coastal Carolina (53-11) playing the Big 12’s Arizona (44-19) in a rematch of the 2016 finals won by the Chanticleers. No. 8 national seed Oregon State (47-14-1), an independent until the Pac-12 ramps up again in 2026-27, meets the ACC’s Louisville (40-22) in the second game.

Saturday’s games match the Big Ten’s UCLA (47-16) against Missouri Valley Conference upstart Murray State (44-15) and an all-SEC battle between No. 3 Arkansas (48-13) and LSU (48-15).

Chanticleers coach Kevin Schnall was Gary Gilmore’s assistant in 2016, and he said he never believed a power conference takeover in baseball was inevitable. His team’s 23-game win streak is the longest in history by a team entering a CWS.

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“Why has Coastal been so successful for 25 years? Well, Gary Gilmore was able to teach us how to assemble a roster,” Schnall said. “It’s not about putting together just the best players. You have to put together the best team. Sometimes money doesn’t always buy that.”

The money is about to get bigger. The House v. NCAA settlement will mandate roster limits, likely 34 in baseball, and allow schools to award as many scholarships as there are roster spots. Most programs are not expected to max out scholarships in baseball, but many will at least double the longstanding limit of 11.7.

Division I Baseball Committee chair Jay Artigues, athletic director at Southeastern Louisiana, said high-performing midmajors aren’t necessarily at a disadvantage because of how they tend to build their rosters. The outlook for them is not doom and gloom, he said.

“The Arkansases, the LSUs and the Georgias of the world, they’re going to have the premier 18-, 19-year-olds in the country, no question about it,” Artigues said. “They can’t get old because their 18- and 19-year-olds are signing (pro contracts) after that third year. Now where a mid-major can compete against them is having a good 22- or 23-year-old. You put a good 22-, 23-year-old against a really good 18-year-old, it evens the field.

“I think the midmajors that are having success are all older. You look at what Southern Miss did this year, they’re a fourth-, fifth-year team. That’s why they’re kicking the crap out of some P4 teams.”

Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said he thought at least one more ACC team would join his in Omaha, but he can’t help but be happy for Murray State to make it considering he played second base on the Citadel’s 1990 CWS team. It was his greatest baseball experience, he said, and as far as he’s concerned the more players who can experience the CWS, the better.

American Baseball Coaches Association executive director Craig Keilitz said the diversity of this year’s CWS field is good for the sport.

“I’m probably surprised as a lot of people as this proliferation of money has followed its way down, to say it might not be possible,” he said. “But I think it’s absolutely remarkable. I think it’s going to be interesting. I think it’s going to be highly watched and followed. I don’t think we could have scripted it any better.”

MLB prospects

Four MLB.com projected first-round picks in the Major League Baseball amateur draft will be playing in Omaha: LSU left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson (1), Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette (3), Arizona outfielder Brendan Summerhill (16) and Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (23).

75 years in Omaha

The CWS is celebrating its 75th anniversary in Omaha, which landed what then was a lightly attended tournament in 1950 partly because city leaders promised to cover any cost overruns.

The CWS blossomed in the 1980s with the start of ESPN’s national coverage and moved from a dilapidated Rosenblatt Stadium to the 24,000-seat Charles Schwab Field in 2011. “Omaha” long has been a rallying cry for teams hoping to play for the national championship.

The city and NCAA have a contract that keeps the event in Omaha at least through 2035.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports