College World Series Thread

[Home Wrecker]

Tomorrow The NCAA 2003 Mens College World Series will begin in Omaha Nebraska. A new format is set where for the first time in CWS History the championship will be decided in a best of three series between the winners of two four-team brackets. In the past the champion was determined in a single-game playoff. With the new format the Champion will not only have to endure a week of greatness but once in the championship game they will more then likely have to have depth in their pitching staffs.

I would like for this forum to be active for the entire CWS for us all to visit and share our insights with the ultimate goal of WINNING some GREENBACKS!

My local will have individual games posted as well as odds to the CWS....hopefully updated daily. Here is what they currently have!


TO WIN THE CWS:

Cal State Fullerton Titans (48-14) +2.50
Rice Owls (53-11) +2.75
Stanford Cardinal (46-15) +4.25
LSU Tigers (45-20-1) +5.25
Texas Longhorns (48-18) +5.50
South Carolina Gamecocks (44-20) +7.50
Miami Hurricanes (44-15-1) +7.50
SW Missouri St. Bears (40-24) +15.00


Game 1's:

South Caro +145
Stanford -165

Cal State -130
LSU +110

SW Missou St +200
Rice -255

Texas -115
Miami -105


LETS GO GET EM'

YAZ

 

[Home Wrecker]

THE 2 Four Team Brackets:

TEXAS
MIAMI
RICE
SMS

CAL STATE
LSU
STANFORD
SOUTH CARO

 

[Skins]

Look out for the fighting owls from Rice. These guys will make it to the finals. Im surprised the line in game 1 is so high since they loset h first game every year. The last three first round losses have come to the eventual champion. This year they got a much better draw. Ill probably lay the -250 juice on Saturday.

 

[Home Wrecker]

Texas Longhorns

Last Years Champion will try to become only the fifth team in CWS history to REPEAT. They are lead by the all time winningest coach Augie Garrido who has 4 National Titles on his resume including last years first with Texas. He has masterfully installed a small ball approach system that focuses on situational hitting and moving players over through contiuous agression both on the base paths and at the plate. They have proven over and over again that they can and will bunt runners into scoring position throughout the entire lineup, steal bases, and come through in the clutch with 2 out hits. They have 7 players with batting averages of .300 or higher and are hitting .305 as a team. They are led by Majewski .389 and 12 HR's followed by the "automatic" up-the-middle double play turning combo of SS Quintanilla .351 and 2B Moss .327. Their pitching staff has not been overwhelming this season but are solid in getting their job done, which is simply to keep the HORNS in the game until the late innings for LAST YEARS CWS MVP to take over! He has been awesome in his role going 8-0 1.38 ERA 14 saves. He also show cases a strong 12 saves in the postseason as a solphmore! Here is what FSU's coach said of him after the Super Regional,

"Street needs to have a street named after him," Florida State coach Mike Martin said. "What a great display of competitiveness."

I like the value of +550 on a Horns Team that I feel has the balanced tools to become the 5th team to win back-to-backs! I will also be giving my thoughts on two more teams that I will be wagering on to win the title and later will post my picks with the units that I am wagering.

I also like Texas in game 1 vs Miami.

 

[Home Wrecker]

RICE Owls

Here is a team that is only 1-6 in CWS play returning from last years Series where they were bounced in 2 games losing to eventual Champion Texas then were eliminated by Notre Dame. But look how they responded after their early exit in 2002: They started 2003 by setting a school record winning 33 games and losing only once. They also had a 30-game winning streak which is the longest in school history. This Owl team has more .300 hitters then Texas with 8 lead by Vincent Sinisi .355 followed by Chris Kolkhurst .350, Enrique Cruz .347 and 13 steals, and Austin Davis .345. On the hill IMO they are second to nobody anchored by very strong 1-2 knock-out punchers: 1st Team All American Jeff Niemann who is 16-0 with a 1.60 ERA in 20 appearances and 2nd Team All American Wade Townsend who is 10-1 with a 1.90 ERA. Townsend pitched 8 innings, fanning 12 while giving up only 1 run on 4 hits in Rice's only match up with Texas this year. Rice won that game 2-1 as Townsend got a no decision. The depth stretches much more then these two gems though as they also have Phillip Humber 10-3 3.28 ERA and Josh Baker 8-0 3.29 ERA. They have a good closer in David Aardsma (5-3, 11 saves) to cap things off. You want to talk "balanced team" take this offense, power pitching staff and add to it a team that is .980 in fielding %. ranking 2nd in the country!!!! For the others in the field this Owls team is scary sick good!!!

IMO wagering Rice at +275 to win the CWS in addition to Texas has great value as I feel that this bracket will be decided in a TEXAS SHOOTOUT!

I love Rice in game one over the Cinderella story SMS. The Bears have been a great story and are tough with talent (7 players drafted in this years MLB draft). Its a lot of chalk -255 but Rice is just too powerful and has the motivation of both revenge and the hunger to prove critics wrong of their history in losing game 1's!

 

[Home Wrecker]

Cal State Fullerton Titans:

Cal State returns to the CWS for the 12th time. How fitting would it be if Fullerton and Texas both made it to the Championship game? Augie won 3 titles while managing the Titans but deserted them for Texas where he won his 4th last year. This team is loaded from top to bottom and then some offensively. They have 10 players with .300 or above averages with 6 of those hitting over .340. They are led by Shane Costa .372 and PJ Pilittere .371. This is their 3rd trip in the last 5 years so the College World Series in nothing new to the Titans fans. Their pitching staff may not look overpowering but they do have the second-lowest ERA in country at 2.75. Their ace is Jason Windsor who is 10-2 with 1.82 ERA in 21 appearances. Once they get to the late innings they have a super star closer in Chad Cordero who is 5-1 with a 1.42 ERA and 7 saves on the year. Cordero has also been recognized as one of nation's top closers. He was drafted in first round by Montreal with the 20th overall pick. He is the active Division I career saves leader with 33 and is tied for 11th in NCAA history! They are also only 1 of 2 teams that rank in the TOP 20 in hitting, pitching, and defense. The other was Ariz State who is actually the top hitting and scoring team in the country.....Oh, and did I mention that Fullerton held this top hitting and scoring team to only 1 RUN twice in the Super Regionals. I really like this favorite to win their bracket but it won't be a walk in the park with Stanford, LSU, and South Carolina contending for a chance to fight for the title. I do like seeing the 3-0 record vs. Stanford this year and the 1-0 record vs Texas to help justify my play though!

I like this Titan team that is 41-0 leading after 7 innings this year to win game 1 over a Tiger team from LSU who has stared adverstiy in the eyes and overcame it to puch their ticket to Omaha. But I question their easy draws!

 

[s.e.c guru]

i absolutley love this play. cal st fullerton

10* cal st fullerton -125 over LSU. This is the weakest team LSU has ever sent to the college world series. this line should be no less than cals t - 170. Vegas is banking on LSU's name to draw some action.

5 * texas longhorns - 115

3* cal st fullerton +250 to win world series

i look for texas to be playing cal st
fulterton for the national title

 

[Home Wrecker]

I found these tidbits on each team and wanted to post for your information:

TEXAS

CWS Seed: 1.

Coach: Augie Garrido (275-160-1, eighth year).

Road To Omaha: Won Austin regional: beat Bucknell 7-0; beat Lamar 7-3; lost to Lamar 6-2; beat Lamar 6-3. Won Tallahassee super regional: beat Florida St. 8-3; beat Florida St. 6-5.
2003 record vs. CWS teams: 1-4 (1-2 vs. Stanford, 0-1 vs. Cal State Fullerton, 0-1 vs. Rice).

Last CWS appearance: 2002.

All-time record in CWS: 68-49 (29 appearances).

Players to Watch: LHP J.P. Howell (9-2, 2.34 ERA), OF Dustin Majewski (.389, 12 home runs, 82 RBIs), 2B Tim Moss (.327, 32 RBIs), SS Omar Quintanilla (.351, 70 RBIs), LHP Justin Simmons (5-5, 4.28), RHP-3B Huston Street (8-0, 1.35, 14 saves), OF Eric Sultemeier (.324, 9, 53).

Short Hops: Longhorns trying to become just fifth team to repeat as CWS champions, joining Texas (1949-50), Southern California (1970-74), Stanford (1987-88) and Louisiana State (1996-97). ... Making NCAA-record 30th CWS appearance. ... Garrido is winningest coach in Division I history with 1,428 victories, passing former Longhorns coach Cliff Gustafson with super regional-clinching win over Florida State. Has won four national titles, three with Cal State Fullerton (1979, '84, '95) and last year with Texas. ... Street -- school's career leader with 28 saves -- is son of former Longhorns pitcher and quarterback James Street, who led Texas to Cotton Bowl win over Notre Dame in 1970. Has 12 postseason saves. ... Moss is third on school list with 17 career triples. ... Majewski leads Big 12 players in RBIs. ... Catcher Tyler Teagarden (.310) was Big 12 freshman of year. ... Quintanilla's 27 doubles are most by Texas player since Brooks Kieschnick had same number in 1993

 

[Home Wrecker]

MIAMI

CWS Seed: 8.

Coach: Jim Morris (471-163-2, 10th year).

Road To Omaha: Won Coral Gables regional: beat Bethune-Cookman 10-5; beat Florida Atlantic 1-0; lost to Florida 15-5; beat Florida 13-10. Won Coral Gables super regional: beat North Carolina St. 10-9; beat North Carolina St. 10-5 in 11 innings.

2003 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0.

Last CWS appearance: 2001.

All-time record in CWS: 43-30 (19 appearances).

Players to Watch: SS Ryan Braun (.374, 17, 74), 1B Jim Burt Jr. (.296, 10, 39), LHP Brandon Camardese (9-1, 4.95), LHP J.D. Cockroft (11-2, 2.20), OF Danny Figueroa (.332, 40 SBs), RHP George Huguet (3-2, 1.88, eight saves), 3B Adam Ricks (.338, 54 RBIs).

Short Hops: Hurricanes won CWS titles in 1982, '85, '99 and 2001. ... Won national championship in last two trips to Omaha. ... Burt, Huguet, Cockroft and LHP Andrew Cohn are only holdovers from 2001 championship team, but Cockroft wasn't on postseason roster. ... Morris has led Hurricanes to CWS in eight of 10 seasons. ... Offense is averaging 8.83 runs per game -- eighth in country. ... Braun, who broke Pat Burrell's school freshman record for RBIs, hit game-winning walkoff homer in first game of super regionals vs. North Carolina State. ... RHP Shawn Valdes-Fauli is 3-0 with 1.64 ERA in postseason. ... Huguet missed regionals with broken right hand, but came back in super regionals. ... Burt is son of former NFL defensive lineman Jim Burt.

 

[Home Wrecker]

RICE

CWS Seed: 5.

Coach: Wayne Graham (531-223, 12th year).

Road To Omaha: Won Houston regional: beat McNeese State 3-2 in 10 innings; beat Wichita State 10-1; beat Wichita State 5-2. Won Houston super regional: lost to Houston 5-2; beat Houston 10-2; beat Houston 5-2.

2003 record vs. CWS teams: 1-0 (vs. Texas).

Last CWS appearance: 2002.

All-time record in CWS: 1-6 (three appearances).

Players to Watch: RHP David Aardsma (5-3, 11 saves), IF Enrique Cruz (.347, 10, 51), OF Austin Davis (.346, 5, 60), RHP Philip Humber (10-3, 3.28), OF Chris Kolkhorst (.350, 43 RBIs), RHP Jeff Niemann (16-0, 1.63, 142 Ks), 1B Vincent Sinisi (.355, 9, 57), RHP Wade Townsend (10-1, 1.90, 150 Ks).

Short Hops: Owls in CWS for fourth time in seven years. ... Only win in seven CWS games came against Oklahoma State in 1999. ... Had 30-game winning streak -- longest in school history -- and set school mark by starting 33-1. ... Graham played briefly under Casey Stengel with 1964 Mets. ... Pitching staff has 2.74 ERA, and set school records with 10 shutouts and 19 saves. ... Niemann, WAC pitcher of year, is 6-foot-9 and has won last 17 decisions, including 16 this season. ... Townsend is third in nation with 13.2 Ks per nine innings. ... Kolkhorst has reached base in 26 straight games. ... Aardsma, 22nd overall pick by San Francisco, is school's single-season and career leader in saves. ... Owls rank second in country with .980 fielding percentage. ... Cruz is son of former major leaguer Jose Cruz and brother of San Francisco Giants outfielder Jose Cruz Jr.

 

[Home Wrecker]

Southwest Missouri State

CWS Seed: 4.

Coach: Keith Guttin (751-421, 21st year).

Road To Omaha: Won Lincoln regional: beat Coastal Carolina 8-3; beat Nebraska 4-2; lost to Nebraska 9-5; beat Nebraska 7-0. Won Columbus super regional: beat Ohio St. 13-8; beat Ohio St. 13-7.

2003 record vs. CWS teams: 0-0.

Last CWS appearance: First appearance.

All-time record in CWS: 0-0 (first appearance).

Players to Watch: OF Dant'e Brinkley (.349, 8, 47, 24 SBs), 3B Brooks Colvin (45 RBIs), SS-RHP Shaun Marcum (2.51, 13 saves; 6 HRs, 41 RBIs), OF Greg Mathis (.320, 48 RBIs), RHP Chad Mulholland (10-3, 2.98), C Tony Piazza (.306, 15, 55), RHP Brad Ziegler (12-1, 4.29).

Short Hops: Bears in CWS for first time in program's 21 years at Division I level. ... Made it to super regionals for first time after being within one win last year, losing to Nebraska, and in 1999, when Bears lost to Clemson. ... Scored 21 of 26 runs against Ohio State in super regionals with two outs. ... Hit 28 homers in regular season, but have eight in postseason. ... Ziegler, Bears' career leader in wins (32), strikeouts (328), complete games (18) and innings pitched (359), was Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of year after winning school-record 12 games. ... Mulholland, MVC newcomer of year, has school-record 114 strikeouts. ... Mathis is second on school's career list in games played (866), at-bats (230) and is tied for first with Colvin with 16 career sacrifice flies. ... Marcum is career leader with 18 saves. ... Brinkley has school-record 69 stolen bases and is within one triple of school mark of 20.

 

[Edward Mush]

BOLD STATEMENT ON RICE

BOLD STATEMENT ON RICE

Of course you have to watch out for them, they are the second favorite to win the whole thing. if you want to win some cash start out playing this, the Bears beat the Owls tomorrow. I think anyone that puts cash on the the Owls might as well be pissing into the wind. I like SW missouri to beat the owls......Small cash on them to win the whole thing. :thefinger

 

[Home Wrecker]

LSU

CWS Seed: 2.

Coach: Smoke Laval (89-41-1, second year).

Road To Omaha: Won Baton Rouge regional: beat Northeastern 11-7; beat Tulane 13-5; beat N.C.-Wilmington 9-8 in 11 innings. Won Baton Rouge super regional: lost to Baylor 4-1; beat Baylor 6-5; beat Baylor 20-5.

2003 record vs. CWS teams: 2-1 (vs. South Carolina).

Last CWS appearance: 2000.

All-time record in CWS: 29-13 (11 appearances).
Players to Watch: RHP Nate Bumstead (11-3, 3.97), 1B Clay Harris (.333, 15, 60), SS Aaron Hill (.366, 9, 67), RHP Justin Meier (8-3, 2.83), DH Ryan Patterson (.350, 15, 49), RHP Bo Pettit (9-2), OF Jon Zeringue (.333, 13, 44).

Short Hops: Tigers making 12th trip to CWS since 1986, and first under Laval. ... Won CWS in 1991, '93, '96, '97 and 2000. ... Enter CWS with 99-34 NCAA tournament record, and rank first with .739 winning percentage. ... Tigers have 82 homers, 10th time in 11 seasons they hit 80 or more. ... Laval, SEC coach of year, won two national titles (1991, '93) as assistant under former coach Skip Bertman. ... Hill, SEC player of year, was first-round pick of Toronto -- 13th overall. Needs six hits to become 10th LSU player with 100 hits in a season. ... Pettit has 300 career strikeouts -- only one of nine Tigers to accomplish feat -- and has pitched 300 innings. ... Four of Harris' seven postseason hits have been homers. ... Only Pettit and RHP Chad Vaught remain from 2000 championship team, but neither was on postseason roster that season.

 

[Home Wrecker]

Fullerton

CWS Seed: 7.

Coach: George Horton (309-130-1, seventh year).

Road To Omaha: Won Fullerton regional: beat San Diego 3-1; beat Notre Dame 4-3; beat Notre Dame 8-1. Won Fullerton super regional: beat Arizona State 5-1; lost to Arizona State 7-6; beat Arizona State 7-1.

2003 record vs. CWS teams: 4-0 (3-0 vs. Stanford, 1-0 vs. Texas).

Last CWS appearance: 2001.

All-time record in CWS: 25-18 (11 appearances).

Players to Watch: OF Kyle Boyer (.342, 49 RBIs, 24 SBs), RHP Chad Cordero (5-1, 1.42, seven saves), OF Shane Costa (.372, 54 RBIs, 28 SBs), OF Danny Dorn (.366, 7, 54), 3B Ronnie Prettyman (.356, 34 RBIs), LHP Ryan Schreppel (5-3, 2.45), RHP Jason Windsor (10-2, 1.82).

Short Hops: Titans are in CWS for third time in five years. ... Won CWS in 1979, '84 and '95 under current Texas coach Augie Garrido. ... Titans are 41-0 when leading after seven innings. ... Join Arizona State as only schools in top 20 in country in hitting, pitching and defense. ... Pitching staff has second-lowest ERA in country at 2.75. ... Held Arizona State, top hitting and scoring team in nation, to one run twice in super regionals. ... Have hit just 37 homers, and no Titans team has hit less than 40 since 1976. ... Costa, second-round pick of Kansas City, was Big West player of year and ranks fifth on team's career list with .371 batting average. ... Dorn broke Phil Nevin's school freshman RBI record. ... Cordero, one of nation's top closers, was drafted in first round by Montreal -- 20th overall. Cordero is active Division I career saves leader with 33, tied for 11th in NCAA history. ... 2B Jason Corapci and SS Justin Turner are former Titans batboys.

 

[Home Wrecker]

South Carolina

CWS Seed: 3.

Coach: Ray Tanner (318-133, seventh year).

Road To Omaha: Won Atlanta regional: beat East Carolina 4-0; beat Stetson 7-2; beat Stetson 9-3. Won Columbia super regional: beat North Carolina 5-4; beat North Carolina 14-4.
2003 record vs. CWS teams: 1-2 (vs. LSU).

Last CWS appearance: 2002.

All-time record in CWS: 13-12 (six appearances).

Players to Watch: LHP Steven Bondurant (7-3, 3.90), 3B Brian Buscher (.390, 14, 64), OF Jon Coutlangus (.335), SS Justin Harris (.358, 32 RBIs), LHP David Marchbanks (15-2, 2.39), 2B Kevin Melillo (.323, 11, 42), C Landon Powell (.338, 10, 59), RHP Aaron Rawl (6-3, 2.75, six saves).

Short Hops: Gamecocks lost to Texas in CWS championship game last season. ... Has outscored opponents 39-13 in NCAA tournament this year. ... Marchbanks, finalist for Dick Howser Trophy, was Southeastern Conference pitcher of year. Tied for fifth on school's career list with 32 wins. ... Powell, finalist for Johnny Bench Award given to nation's best catcher, received general equivalency diploma after junior year of high school, became free agent and attended various big league tryout camps before deciding to go to college. Junior leads SEC players with 44 walks. ... Buscher leads SEC players in batting average and leads team with 32 multihit games. ... Buscher and Powell each hit two homers in Gamecocks' super regional-clinching win over North Carolina. ... Harris is hitting .524 (11-for-21) in postseason. ... IF Steven Tolleson is son of former major leaguer Wayne Tolleson.

 

[Home Wrecker]

No Tidbits on Stanford! SEC Guru, I too look for Texas and Cal Fullerton to meet in the Finals!

Back later with plays!

GL

YAZ

 

[EXTRAPOLATER]

Nice job
Appreciate the work

 

[Dog lover]

Seedings mean nothing

Seedings mean nothing

All teams should have been re-seeded after the superregionals, but are not.
E.g., FSU (seeded #1) played Texas (seeded # 16 supposedly;there were no seedings beyond # 8) in the superregionals. Texas won that matchup and assumed the #1 seed!!! SWMo. won their superregional and assumed the seed of vanquished Ohio St. and so on. The committee that selected the seedings had other agendas than correctly ranking the tournament. So forget about the seedings, they mean absolutely nothing.

 

[BillyS]

Whats the schedule for tomorrow CWS games, can you guys let me know, THANKS

 

[BADTODABONE]

BillyS, check your off shore account for lines and times. EST