LIKE IT IS

College World Series will go the distance

An "Omahogs" sign hangs above the Arkansas dugout prior to a College World Series game against Texas on Sunday, June 17, 2018, in Omaha, Neb.

Of course they are jacked up.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Razorbacks Nation needed to make the championship series of the College World Series.

In the world of college athletics there are three big sports. Football, of course, is No. 1 followed by basketball and then baseball.

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It isn't just that it has been 54 years since the Hogs won a national title in football, or 24 in basketball, it is that the football team hasn't even been competitive since 2011 when they went 11-2 and beat Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.

The basketball team has been competitive but not like it was during Nolan Richardson's days when the question wasn't would the Razorbacks make the NCAA Tournament but would they be a No. 1 seed.

When the Razorbacks eliminated Florida on Friday to advance to the best-of-three series vacations were changed, folks suddenly needed days off and the roads to Omaha from almost anywhere in Arkansas picked up traffic.

Many have been there since the first pitch, but there may have been twice as many Hog fans last night.

Obviously, going into last night neither team wanted this to be a three-game series. The prediction here is it will. The Razorbacks and Oregon State Beavers have too much offense.

Both are riding four-game win streaks. The Beavers lost their CWS opener to North Carolina and have roared back, outscoring its last four opponents 42-15.

The Hogs were the only team to go undefeated in the double-elimination round and outscored their opponents 37-15.

The Beavers were 10-1 in three-game series this season but in six of those series they lost the final game, and Arizona was the only team to take a series from them when OSU opened with a win and then lost the last two games.

Arkansas was 8-5 in three game series, and all five losses were on the road during Southeastern Conference play.

When this tournament began the SEC had a record 10 teams in the field and three advanced to the College World Series. After Arkansas sent Florida home, the Beavers beat Mississippi State twice to advance.

The Razorbacks are the 10th SEC team to make the championship round in the last 11 years, which is almost as dominating as the SEC is in football. In the last 12 years the SEC has played for the national championship 11 times and won nine. Alabama has won five of those and was in the 2014 College Football Playoffs but lost its opening-round game.

Oregon State and Florida were considered the favorites to win this CWS, but the Hogs, who have shed all the earlier question marks about losing on the road and runners left on base are in great shape.

Dave Van Horn was working from way back to put this team in a position to win a three-game series. He has worked in true freshmen, who are playing more like veterans than guys who were playing American Legion ball this time last year, with the experienced guys.

Since getting a regional bid to start the NCAA Tournament the confidence has been growing, and after losing the second game of the super regional to South Carolina they came back knocking the cover off the ball and advanced to Omaha with a 14-4 win over the Gamecocks.

Because both teams can score a lot of runs at any given time -- the Beavers scored all five of their runs in the third inning in their 5-2 win over the Bulldogs -- the prediction is this CWS winds up Wednesday night in front of a huge Arkansas crowd.

Sports on 06/26/2018