We have finally arrived at the College World Series after chaotic Regional and Super Regional rounds. Only three top-eight seeds made it to Omaha, and only two SEC schools, which might be a bigger shocker. LSU and Arkansas will face each other in their first game to make it even more dramatic. 

If you are unfamiliar with the format, the eight schools are split into two groups that serve like another round of Regionals. Bracket 1 features No. 8 seed Oregon State, No. 13 Coastal Carolina, Louisville, and Arizona. Bracket 2 will have No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Arkansas, No. 15 UCLA, and the tournament’s Cinderella, Murray State. 

An SEC school has won the last five College World Series titles, which is why there’s extra attention paid to LSU and Arkansas. Early expectations are that the school that survives Bracket 2 will be in an excellent position to win the title, but the last non-SEC school to win it all was Oregon State in 2018, which beat Arkansas. You have to return to 2016 when an SEC school didn’t reach the College World Series final. That year, it was the Zach Remillard-led Coastal Carolina Chanticleers knocking off Arizona. 

There are many familiar faces for the 75th anniversary, which should make the next week at Omaha especially fun. Not only will it be a spirited competition on the field, but I’m expecting lots of Jell-O shots purchased at Rocco’s from LSU and Arkansas fans. In 2023, LSU fans bought 68,888 Jell-O shots, and that money was raised to help Omaha’s Food Bank. That’s some quality #108ing. 

My Wife Makes a Point: Why Not Re-Seed the College World Series?

On Monday night, I watched Murray State continue their improbable journey to Omaha when they held on by beating Duke, 5-4. During the broadcast, ESPN showed a graphic that displayed that the winner between Duke and Murray State would face UCLA. I was surprised when my wife, Kim, got pretty upset about the College World Series bracket. 

Her point: Why are the top remaining seeds (LSU and Arkansas) facing each other in the first game? Shouldn’t they reseed to award the top seeds who survived Regionals and Super Regionals? To her, it felt like a punishment for LSU and Arkansas for taking care of business on their home diamonds. 

I tried to defend the NCAA by making a case that if each top-eight seed won, it would still be LSU and Arkansas in the first round. They also don’t reseed the college basketball tournaments; people still love that format. My attempt to convince her landed in foul territory. I even added the thought process of how schools are grouped in Regionals with travel distance in mind to limit expenses. Still, she had a quick rebuttal that’s not an issue when everyone is in Omaha for the College World Series. 

I don’t think the NCAA would change how the College World Series format works, but let’s entertain this notion of reseeding the eight remaining teams. How would that look this year? 

Bracket 1

• No. 1 Arkansas vs. No. 8 Murray State
• No. 4 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 5 UCLA

Bracket 2

• No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Arizona
• No. 3 Oregon State vs. No. 6 Louisville

Any chance to see Arkansas vs. LSU would be in the College World Series final. That series would draw record crowds and TV ratings for ESPN. As we all know, the NCAA is mostly about money. Hence, there are serious conversations about reseeding the college football playoffs. So, from an entertainment and revenue standpoint, my wife is right: The College World Series should be reseeded.

One Player To Follow For Each School

LSU: Daniel Dickinson, 2B

LSU has the best starting pitchers in Omaha with Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson. Both are first-round quality arms, with Anderson now getting consideration to be selected first overall. He reminds me a lot of New York Yankees starter Max Fried. This pitching duo will receive much attention on draft fronts, but I don’t think either are options for the White Sox at Pick 10. 

Always looking for later-round options, second baseman Daniel Dickinson has been a key cog for the Tigers this season. A transfer from Utah Valley, Dickinson hit .312/.463/.534 in 63 games with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs. Despite the uptick in competition quality, Dickinson drew more walks than strikeouts (39 BB, 36 K). It’s been a rough postseason for Dickinson, who is 3-for-22, but two of those hits have been home runs. He's most likely a draft target starting in the third round.

Arkansas: Charles Davalan, OF

Wehiwa Aloy is the star for Arkansas and Zach Root is their ace starting pitcher, but Charles Davalan has been essential to the Razorbacks offense in keeping the line moving. Hailing from Montreal, Davalan hit .355/.444/.586 in 61 games with 14 HR and 59 RBIs. In Super Regionals against Tennessee, Davalan was 3-for-5 with three walks in the two-game sweep. Davalan’s left-handed swing reminds me of former major leaguer Brian Giles; a crouched, open stance tailored to driving the ball to center field. Like Dickinson, Davalan is most likely an option starting in the third round.

Oregon State: Trent Caraway, 3B

In 52 games this season, Trent Caraway only had six home runs. 

In eight postseason games this season, Caraway has six home runs. 

It's been an uneven season for Oregon State's third baseman. He started 2025 with a 14-game hitting streak and batted .397 on March 11. A month later, Caraway's batting average dropped to .275. Another month into May, Caraway was hitting .250. Not helping matters, Caraway was also struggling defensively, committing 10 errors in his first 33 games. 

But the bat is hot, and Caraway has only committed two errors in his last 27 games. The draft-eligible sophomore has turned a corner and has a great opportunity in Omaha to change skeptics' minds. He may return to Oregon State next year to help improve his draft standing, but if Caraway continues this postseason heater, he might merit a top-75 pick.

Coastal Carolina: Jacob Morrison, Right-handed Pitcher

Standing at 6’8”, Jacob Morrison is a big presence for Coastal Carolina and came up huge in their Super Regional win over Auburn, which earned his team a trip to Omaha. Morrison only allowed one run in six innings while walking three and striking out six. His four-seam fastball sits mostly between 92 to 94 MPH, and it’s paired with a curveball to keep left-handed hitters off-balanced.

After posting a 6.55 ERA in 2023 and missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, Morrison has bounced back in a big way with a 2.15 ERA in 17 games while pitching 96⅓ innings. He is an intriguing pitching project for any MLB team. 

UCLA: Roch Cholowsky, Shortstop

Despite how the vibes are better surrounding the White Sox these days, they are still tied with the Athletics for the best odds of earning the first overall pick in next year’s MLB Draft. Running a quick simulation on MLB Tankathon, the White Sox are lucky to be selected first overall.

That’s good news because the 2026 class features excellent college bats, starting with UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. 

A finalist for the Dick Howser (Player of the Year) Award, Cholowsky hit .367/.494/.742 his sophomore season with 23 HR and 73 RBIs while posting a 14.2% walk rate and only a 9.4% K-rate. He’s continued to hit this postseason as he’s 8-for-23, albeit all singles. Defensively, Cholowsky has demonstrated good range and a strong-enough throwing arm to move over to third base if necessary. I thought Cholowsky had one of the best seasons in 2025. A strong College World Series performance will only increase the hype. 

Louisville: Matt Klein, Catcher

Cardinals ace starting pitcher Patrick Forbes is the headliner. With his low-slot fastball and sweeper combination, Forbes racks up plenty of strikeouts (36.4% K-rate), but he also allows a lot of free passes (11.2% BB-rate). Forbes is now being considered in the mid-to-late first round, so any chance he could make it to the White Sox for their second-round selection is minuscule.    

Missing two months due to a broken bone in his wrist, Louisville catcher Matt Klein returned in late May to help Louisville win the Nashville Regional, upsetting the No. 1 seed Vanderbilt. This postseason, Klein is 6-for-21 with two doubles and a home run. A left-handed bat, Klein has been difficult to strike out with a college career 12.4% K-rate. It’s a lot of ground balls (52.7%) and not a ton of home run power, but solid contact skills. Defensively, Klein has been graded as having an average throwing arm (4-for-17 on stolen-base attempts). As a target after the fifth round, Klein could be a good depth in the minors.

Arizona: Brendan Summerhill, Outfielder

Brendan Summerhill is looking for consistency after missing a month of action due to punching a water cooler in West Virginia. Before that Carlos Quentin moment, Summerhill was batting .409. Since that hand injury, Summerhill is 20-for-63 (.317 AVG) with seven doubles and two home runs. As Arizona’s leadoff hitter, Summerhill has consistently worked deep counts and is unafraid to draw walks. He’s also been tougher to strikeout this season, cutting his K-rate to 10.7%. 

Standing at 6’3, there’s a growing consensus that an MLB team will be able to develop more power from Summerhill with additional work in a hitting lab to take advantage of his long levers. Right now, it’s more line drives than deep flies, but Summerhill has decent speed to post six triples in back-to-back seasons. He needs to be a better base stealer (18-for-31 the last two seasons), but the tools are there with his athleticism. it's enough to merit a first-round selection, and recent mocks have Summerhill taken as high as 11th overall. But to crack the Top 10, Summerhill must put on a show at Omaha.  

READ: Brendan Summerhill Scouting Report

Murray State: Jonathan Hogart, Outfielder

Murray State, this year’s Cinderella, lacks MLB draft talent. But in recent years, we’ve seen the White Sox target college senior position players to see if their high performance can carry over to the minors. We already mentioned Remillard. Last year, it was Lyle Miller-Green, and a couple of years ago, it was current first baseman Tim Elko. 

One possible option this year would be Jonathan Hogart. In 58 games, Hogart hit 23 doubles and 22 homers with 63 RBIs. Hogart is 12-for-32 with six homers this postseason, coming against SEC and ACC quality pitchers. Already a folk hero for Murray State baseball, Hogart has a shot at launching himself into the college baseball national landscape if he can continue his hot hitting in Omaha. 

College World Series Prediction

My bracket busted long ago, so I’m seeking redemption with these picks. 

In Bracket 1, I like Coastal Carolina over Oregon State. They’ve been red hot, winning 23 straight games and only allowing 16 runs in five postseason games. It won’t be easy, though, as Arizona and Louisville are also battle-tested this postseason. 

In Bracket 2, it’s LSU for me. They have the best pitchers remaining, and Freshman outfielder Derek Curiel is ready to break out. 

It will be quite the College World Series color combination with Coastal’s teal and black versus LSU’s purple and gold. While I expect the Chanticleers to put up a good fight, I have LSU and coach Jay Johnson winning another National Championship. 

Latest White Sox Draft Rumors

In their latest mock draft, Baseball America made a reference that the White Sox went heavy visiting the Knoxville Regional. With Liam Doyle getting quite a bit of top-five buzz, my guess is the White Sox are considering Gavin Kilen with their first-round pick. On Thursday, White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller posted an Instagram story from Lindsey Nelson Stadium. With Tennessee's season over, Fuller can have an opportunity to meet with not only Kilen, but many of the Vols' draft-worthy prospects.

Asking around, the White Sox still have prep infielders JoJo Parker and Billy Carlson on their radar. The industry assumption is both will be selected within the first 10 picks. One thought is if both Parker and Carlson are off the board, the White Sox could pivot to Kilen.

Why Kilen? As I wrote in March, Kilen had turned a corner offensively after transferring from Louisville. In 53 games, Kilen batted .357/.441/.671 with 15 homers and 46 RBIs. For his college career, spanning 150 games, Kilen's strikeout rate was 9.7%. He played shortstop for Louisville but mostly stuck at second base with Tennessee until later in the season when he moved back to his original position. There's confidence he'll stick in the middle infield.

So that makes Kilen a left-handed middle infielder with good contact skills, and he discovered his power stroke with Tennessee. Add that Kilen was on the White Sox Area Code team as a high schooler, and the rumors gain creditability.

Dick Howser Award Winner and Ballot

This morning, the NCBWA announced that Alex Lodise won this year's Dick Howser Award. In 58 games, Lodise hit .394/.462/.705 for Florida State with 17 HR and 68 RBI. Ranked 35th in the Sox Machine Top 100 2025 MLB Draft Prospects, Lodise is a solid defender at shortstop with an aggressive swing. When he connects, there's 50 grade or better power from Lodise, but back-to-back seasons posting 20% K-rates highlight in-zone contact and chase issues.

I'm fortunate to be a voter, and my final ballot is below. I thought Cholowsky had a better season than Lodise but it was a close call.

8 Votes: Roch Cholowsky, shortstop, UCLA

7 Votes: Alex Lodise, shortstop, Florida State

6 Votes: Kade Anderson, left-handed pitcher, LSU

5 Votes: Liam Doyle, left-handed pitcher, Tennessee

4 Votes: Kyson Witherspoon, right-handed pitcher, Oklahoma

3 Votes: Jamie Arnold, left-handed pitcher, Florida State

2 Votes: Justin Lebron, shortstop, Alabama

1 Vote: Cardell Thibodeaux, outfielder, Southern