Mitch Light
The Athletic
The eight-team field for the 2025 College World Series is complete with Murray State beating Duke on Monday night to earn the final spot.
The Racers are the fourth No. 4 seed to make it to Omaha since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, joining Fresno State in 2008, Stony Brook in 2012 and Oral Roberts in 2023. Fresno State went on to win the national championship.
Murray State, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, joins a geographically diverse field that includes two teams from the SEC (Arkansas and LSU) and one each from the ACC (Louisville), Big 12 (Arizona), Big Ten (UCLA) and Sun Belt (Coastal Carolina) as well as one independent (Oregon State).
What are the first-round matchups?
Friday: Arizona vs. Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m. (ET); Louisville vs. Oregon State, 7 p.m. (ET)
Saturday: UCLA vs. Murray State, 2 p.m. (ET); LSU vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m. (ET)
Where are the national seeds?
Only three of the eight national seeds and five of the top 16 seeds overall advanced to the College World Series. That’s down from five of eight and seven of 16 in last year’s field.
The national seeds to advance: No. 3 Arkansas, No. 6 LSU and No. 8 Oregon State.
Other top-16 seeds to advance: No. 13 Coastal Carolina and No. 15 UCLA.
Top seed Vanderbilt, No. 2 seed Texas and No. 7 seed Georgia each failed to get out of the Regional round, while No. 4 seed Auburn and No. 5 seed North Carolina lost in the Super Regionals.
There will not be a repeat champion as Tennessee, the No. 14 seed, lost to Arkansas in the Super Regionals. The last repeat champ was South Carolina in 2010 and 2011.
Also, there is a completely new field in 2025. None of the teams from the 2024 CWS are back in Omaha.
The Pick
LSU is a slight betting favorite over Arkansas to win the CWS, but the pick here is Arkansas. The Hogs hit a few speed bumps late in the season — losing four of five series during one stretch — but this is the most complete team in the country. The lineup is balanced and powerful (seven players have at least 13 home runs), and the pitching staff is as deep and versatile as any in college baseball.
Arkansas is making its 12th trip to the CWS but has yet to win a national title. That drought will end this season.