The Tennessee baseball team warms up before game three of the NCAA College World Series finals between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., on Monday, June 24, 2024. Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Men’ College World Series Prediction: Who Will Leave Omaha As A Champion?

Originally posted on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI
By Graham Baakko | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The eight teams in Omaha have been set, and, it is safe to say that the remaining field of teams is not quite who many people would think would make it to the Men’s College World Series.

The regionals and super regionals saw upset after upset after upset take place. The regional round saw the top two nationally ranked teams be eliminated in upset fashion as No. 1 Vanderbilt was knocked out by Wright State and No. 2 Texas was stunned by in-state school UTSA.

On top of that, Duke got past No. 7 Georgia and got out of the Athens Regional and Murray State did the unthinkable, beating a red hot No. 10 Ole Miss team to go to a super regional for the first time in program history.

The super regionals also delivered its share of upsets. It was all started by No. 13 Coastal Carolina going to Auburn and sweeping the No. 4 Tigers. After losing game 1 18-2, Arizona bounced back and won two straight against No. 5 North Carolina to punch a ticket to Omaha.

Then Murray State once again surprised the college baseball world, continuing its Cinderella run with back-to-back wins at Duke. The Racers' upset series victory got them to the College World Series for the first time ever.

With the dust from the first two rounds settling, here are the remaining teams left in the NCAA Tournament that will fight for a National Championship.

Arizona vs. Louisville

No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 8 Oregon State

No. 6 LSU vs. No. 3 Arkansas

Murray State vs. No. 15 UCLA

With that being said, let’s do some predictions.

Bracket 1

Both of Friday’s matchups can go either way. Louisville and Arizona both took down two of the toughest teams to beat in the country to get to this point. Arizona has had clutch offense when needed and Louisville has had clutch pitching when needed. Give me Louisville to get the first win of this year’s College World Series. Coastal Carolina and Oregon State have been very good of late, including the Chanticleers who have won 23 in a row. I think Coastal Carolina makes it 24 in a row on Friday.

In an elimination game between Oregon State and Arizona, the Beavers will avoid elimination and take out Arizona. Coastal Carolina will roll past Louisville and secure a spot among the final four teams left in Omaha as they send the Cardinals to an elimination game against Oregon State.

Oregon State will eliminate its second ACC team of the tournament as the offense for Oregon State gets it done and moves on to face Coastal Carolina.

With Oregon State needing to beat a red hot Coastal Carolina team twice to make it to the National Championship Series, it seems like a tall task. Can Oregon State battle all the way back after a Friday loss? I think the Beavers are capable of pushing the Chanticleers to a winner-take-all game, but ultimately, Coastal Carolina will end Oregon State’s dreams and head to the national title series.

Bracket 2

In a College World Series matchup nobody saw coming, Murray State takes on UCLA, but I think the Bruins will take over. They eliminated a cinderella in UTSA at the Los Angeles Super Regional and shut the Roadrunners bats down. Something similar is going to happen here and UCLA moves to the winner’s side of the bracket.

Arkansas and LSU is by far the best matchup on the first two days in Omaha. A top-6 matchup between two SEC teams that have all the attributes to win a national championship. The Razorbacks offense was incredible all season long, finishing at the top of the SEC in batting average and runs scored with guys like Logan Maxwell and Charles Davalan leading the way. In the end, Arkansas wins the first game.

The Razorbacks will continue their winning ways the next game against UCLA and LSU will end Murray State’s unthinkable run as the Tigers eliminate the Racers, setting up an elimination game between LSU and UCLA, where LSU fends off the Bruins pitching and goes to the final four against Arkansas.

Just as Oregon State took Coastal Carolina to a winner-take-all game, LSU will win the first game against Arkansas, but lose a winner-take-all game. Arkansas moves on to the National Championship Series against Coastal Carolina.

National Championship

Arkansas will face Coastal Carolina in a three-game series for the right to be crowned national champions.

Arkansas will take game 1 of the series, putting them one win away from a college world series title. Game 2 of the series will be a very close game. Coastal Carolina will not go out without a fight. But in the late stages of the game, I think Arkansas will make one extra play, whether it be fielding or a key hit to take the lead. The Arkansas Razorbacks, and most notably, head coach Dave Van Horn will be crowned as the 2025 National Champions. Van Horn’s 10th appearance in Omaha will finally be the one where he gets to the mountaintop of college baseball.

How will these predictions fare? Only time will tell. But for now, this is the current feeling on who will leave Omaha a champion.