Georgia is just days away from beginning their run at the College World Series, and waiting for them in their first game are the Texas Longhorns.
Texas is a bit of an unfortunate draw for Georgia because they are the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are the highest seed possible for Georgia to play right now, so they are a little unlucky that some upsets didn’t happen which would’ve given them an easier opponent.
But just how unlucky did Georgia get? Look no further than the National Championship odds set by Vegas and it’s clear that Georgia got a very unfortunate College World Series draw.
Georgia’s first CWS opponent is as unlucky as it gets
Georgia is one of the favorites to win the College World Series. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, they have the second-best odds to win it all at +300 which is just narrowly behind North Carolina at +290.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
North Carolina doesn’t really matter to Georgia right now since they are on the other side of the bracket, but Texas is the single most important team to Georgia right now. That is where they are getting a little unlucky because the Longhorns have the third-best odds to win the College World Series at +320.
So Georgia, who has been the highest remaining seed in the NCAA Tournament since No. UCLA and No. 2 Georgia Tech lost in their regional, has to play the third-best team remaining in the CWS, according to Vegas, in their first game. Now that doesn’t really seem fair.
The NCAA Tournament doesn’t re-seed teams after each round, so Georgia is just unlucky that an upset didn’t occur to knock Texas out of the tournament. But other teams will get to enjoy easier games to open their CWS run like Alabama and Oklahoma who are in Georgia’s four-team bracket but have the sixth and seventh-best odds to win it all.
This happened to Georgia in the Super Regionals as well because Mississippi State was one of the best teams remaining at the time as well. That thankfully didn’t end up mattering to Georgia, but they once again are getting one of the toughest draws possible.
The importance of Georgia beating Texas can’t be overstated
It’s impossible to state just how important it is for Georgia to beat Texas when they play on Saturday. The first round of the CWS is just like regional play where three teams join Georgia in a double elimination bracket. If Georgia loses game one to Texas they will be relegated to the loser’s bracket where they will have to win four games in a row to advance to the National Championship series.
If they win then they will go to the winner’s bracket instead where it would only take two more wins to get to the National Championship series. Better yet, if Georgia beats Texas they will play the winner of the Alabama and Oklahoma game, and Vegas is already making it clear that they would heavily favor Georgia in that matchup.
So Georgia’s hopes of winning the College World Series may just be on the line when they play Texas. Sure losing won’t knock them out of the tournament, but it would make it extremely difficult to fight back and win it all.
Fest pitch for Georgia’s game against Texas at the College World Series is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 at 8:00 pm EST.
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