Time to make small tweak to College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — It's high time for the NCAA to make one final adjustment in the effort to perfect its quest to create a true national championship game.

Not so long ago, there was no championship series to serve as a finale. The whole thing was a straight up double elimination.

To make things have more of a championship feel, the NCAA put the two best teams in the final and let them know they have three games to prove who is the true champion. Now it's time to one up that effort by reseeding the tournament once teams make it to Omaha.

Put the highest seed at the top of one side of the bracket and the second highest seed at the top of the other and figure out what seeds one through four should look like on both sides. Obviously, that's not been made policy yet because Arkansas and LSU are playing each other in their opening game as the two highest seeds left in the entire field.

Either the Razorbacks or Tigers will start off with a loss rather than having great odds against either Murray State or Louisville as the lowest seeds left. It's frustrating to see things play out this way.

The biggest argument comes from the basketball people who like to throw their two cents in come June when they bandwagon onto the college baseball scene. These are the same people who filled social media feeds with claims that the SEC is overhyped in baseball because nine of their teams were eliminated in the first round of the College World Series.

Well, first off, it's a regional, not the first round. There were 48 teams eliminated in that portion of the tournament.

Also, it's not the College World Series at that point either. It should also be noted that math doesn't support the theory these intruders are trying to make.

The SEC went from 20% of the field in the regional round to 25% in the super regionals. That percent held as we go into the actual CWS with the SEC being the only conference to get more than one team in.

So, these brilliant Johnny Come Latelys want to say that since the Final Four isn't reseeded, the CWS shouldn't do that either. However, these are two different animals.

The college baseball tournament is made up of a series of double elimination tournaments, unlike the giant single-game elimination format the NCAA Tournament uses. Also, until teams reach the final tournament in Omaha, everything is played in home stadiums.

That's why it makes sense to have things fall by seed at that point. It's an entirely separate tournament, and the only one played on a neutral site.

Here's how that would look if reseeding were done this year as teams arrive in Omaha.

Upper CWS Bracket

1. Arkansas vs. 4. Murray St
2. Coastal Carolina vs. 3. Arizona

Lower CWS Bracket

1. LSU vs. 4. Louisville
2. Oregon St. vs. 3. UCLA

Not only is the tournament suddenly more balanced, but there are storylines just waiting to happen in this readjusted schedule. In this format, Arkansas is set to face either conference rival LSU in the championship game or try to overcome past demons against Oregon State from the 2018 debacle where Arkansas had the championship in its grasp twice, but couldn't catch a pop-up foul ball or a final strike.

That also creates the possibility of UCLA and Arizona, both former Pac-12 mates, meeting for the title after both overcome their No. 3 seeding. Even the potential championship games in each half of the bracket set up for major drama.

Arkansas, the betting odds favorite, against Coastal Carolina, the eyeball test favorite, for the right to go to the College World Series final is a made for TV level drama that deserves to be seen. LSU vs. Oregon State, two storied programs with their own collection of national championship trophies squaring off with a finals berth on the line is also must-watch television.

Unfortunately, since there is no reseeding, fans will have to watch a potential national championship game get burned in the opening game of the CWS for Arkansas and LSU. That's not something that sits well with local businesses because both bring large crowds that spend a ton of money.

Sending either fan base home early means a huge cut to the bottom line during a week that makes the difference in whether there will be another year for a lot of these establishments. So, not only is reseeding what's best for business when it comes to guaranteeing a true national championship game, it's also literally what's best for business.

So, while nothing can be done this year to resolve the situation, it's at least worth visiting in the offseason. College baseball is a sport that continues to grow, and with revenue sharing coming online, building on that momentum with an adjustment that increases the value and attention of the national championship finals as the true title series is as important as it ever will be.

It's time to make it happen. Reseeding needs to be the final great improvement to the College World Series.