SEC Teams Lead the Way in College World Series Outrights
Even With Reigning Champ LSU Ousted, SEC Teams Dominate the 2024 NCAA World Series Odds
Tennessee and Texas A&M are Favorites Per 2024 NCAA World Series Odds
The College Baseball World Series almost feels like an ACC-SEC Challenge with all eight teams coming from those two conferences. The 2024 NCAA World Series Odds has three SEC teams with the best chance of winning it all.
When looking at the NCAA baseball scores, there were some surprises in the regionals. No. 5 Arkansas was the top national seed eliminated in the regionals. No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 13 Arizona, No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara, and No. 16 East Carolina all fell short in the regionals.
Once the tournament advanced to the Super Regionals, the cream rose to the top with Florida the only unseeded team to reach the College World Series.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and North Carolina were the top four seeds when the NCAA Division I baseball tournament began and will be the front-runners to win the title.
Tennessee and Texas A&M are the co-favorites as they are priced at +275 to win the national title followed by Kentucky at +450 and North Carolina at +650.
The NCAA World Series bracket begins on Friday at 2 p.m. ET when North Carolina meets Virginia followed by Tennessee’s game against Florida State. The College World Series will end on either June 23 or 24.
Let’s look at the eight remaining teams as the College World Series is set to get underway in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday.
Tennessee Volunteers (+275 to win the College World Series)
After going undefeated at the regionals, Tennessee was pushed to a winner-take-all matchup by Evansville in the Super Regionals.
Evansville scored once in the top of the first inning before the potent Tennessee lineup took over with 12 runs scored in the first five innings en route to the 12-1 win. That one loss did little to keep Tennessee from being one of the favorites according to the 2024 NCAA World Series odds.
Blake Burke had four hits while Billy Amick and Cal Stark had three RBIs each.
Christian Moore leads the Volunteers with 32 home runs and 71 RBIs while Burke had a .376 average with 19 home runs, 56 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases.
Tennessee had eight players with at least 10 home runs. AJ Causey, Drew Beam, and Nate Snead are a combined 30-7 to lead the pitching staff.
Kentucky Wildcats (+450)
What a ride it has been with the Wildcats reaching the College World Series for the first time. That hasn’t stopped Kentucky from being the No. 3 choice in the World Series odds.
After being pushed by Western Michigan in the first game at the regional, Kentucky outscored the next two opponents 11-1 and then won twice in the Super Regionals against Oregon State.
Ryan Nicholson (21 home runs, 61 RBIs) and Ryan Waldschmidt (14 home runs, 46 RBIs) provide the power. Waldschmidt is one of three Kentucky players with at least 19 stolen bases.
Five relievers with at least 10 innings pitched average more than a strikeout per inning led by closer Johnny Hummel. Trey Pooser (7-1, 3.46 ERA) leads the starting pitchers.
Texas A&M Aggies (+275)
The Aggies are 5-0 in the NCAA tournament as the Aggies seem to have all the ingredients to make a run at the national title with the 2024 NCAA World Series odds listing Texas A&M as the co-favorite.
Seven starters have slugging percentages over .500. Braden Montgomery leads the way with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs while Jace LaViolette has 28 home runs and 77 RBIs.
Five different pitchers have at least five wins with Ryan Prager and Chris Cortez a combined 17-4.
North Carolina Tar Heels (+650)
It wasn’t easy for North Carolina as LSU forced a final game in the Chapel Hill Regional with the Tar Heels winning 4-3 in 10 innings. No. 9 hitter Colby Wilkerson’s RBI single in the ninth inning tied the game while No. 8 hitter Alex Madera came through with the game-winning hit in the 10th inning. West Virginia challenged the Tar Heels in both games in the Super Regional.
Parks Harber is one of seven North Carolina starters batting over .300. He also leads the team with 20 home runs. Casey Cook is hitting .339 with 18 home runs and 76 RBIs while Vance Honeycutt (85 runs, 28 stolen bases) and Anthony Donofrio (.338 average, 19 stolen bases) are the top base-stealing threats.
Matthew Matthjis has won 12 games out of the bullpen, Dalton Pierce is an elite closer while Jason Decaro and Shea Sprague are a combined 9-2.
Florida State Seminoles (+900)
FSU is another team yet to taste defeat in this year’s NCAA tournament.
The Seminoles made quite the statement in the Super Regionals, beating a talented UConn team 24-4 in the opener before winning in extra innings to head to Omaha.
James Tibbs (.374, 28 home runs, 94 RBIs) and Cam Smith (.402, 79 runs) both have on-base percentages approaching .500.
Jamie Arnold (11-3, 2.77 ERA, 155 strikeouts) has next-level stuff to lead the pitching staff.
North Carolina State (+2000)
Garrett Pennington, Alec Makarewicz, Eli Serrano, and Alex Sosa all homered as North Carolina State topped Georgia to earn the final spot in the College World Series.
Makarewicz leads the Wolfpack with 22 home runs and 80 RBIs. Jacob Cozart has 19 home runs and 53 RBIs while Pennington has 18 home runs and 65 RBIs.
Sam Highfill leads NC State with seven wins and 75 strikeouts while Derrick Smith picked up his eighth save of the season by pitching the final three innings in Monday’s win.
Virginia Cavaliers (+1200)
The Cavaliers tend to get overshadowed by some of the other teams in the ACC but the Cavaliers are perfect in the NCAA tournament.
A .336 team batting average makes Virginia a dangerous team with Jacob Ference and Henry Ford leading the way with 17 home runs each.
A lack of pitching depth could be a concern as nine of the 16 pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched have ERAs over 4.50. Evan Blanco is the clear No. 1 pitcher but after him, there are some questions.
Florida Gators (+1600)
When Florida lost its opener in the SEC tournament to Vanderbilt, there was some talk that the Gators might not deserve an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament despite nine wins over top-10 teams during the regular season.
The Gators won three elimination games, two against the host Oklahoma State team to win the Stillwater Regional, and then won a pair of slugfests in the Super Regionals against Clemson.
Jac Caglianone can do it all as he has a .411 batting average with 33 home runs and 68 RBIs to go with five wins as a pitcher.
Florida has 131 home runs but a 6.16 team ERA could make it tough for the Gators to advance in Omaha.
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