Is West Virginia in the NCAA Super Regional 2024? Looking at the Mountaineers' chances of clinching the 2024 CWS title
West Virginia struggled slightly in the 2024 college baseball season. The Mountaineers did make the NCAA Tournament field but were the No. 3 seed in the Tucson region. However, WVU did get a big break as top seed Arizona fell to No. 4 seed Grand Canyon in its first game.
From there, West Virginia carried its own weight, earning its way to super regional play. At that level, the Mountaineers will face No. 4 overall seed North Carolina, one of the best and most complete remaining teams in the NCAA field.
Is West Virginia in the NCAA Super Regional 2024?
Yes, the Mountaineers are playing in the North Carolina Super Regional on Friday and potentially through Sunday. As winners of its region, WVU faces the Tar Heels, the national No. 4 seed, on its home field.
West Virginia's performances so far
In its first game in Tucson, West Virginia bested No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist 4-1. After Grand Canyon's surprising win over Arizona, the Mountaineers faced the No. 4 seed Antelopes and won 5-2. Grand Canyon won its way through the loser's bracket and got a rematch with West Virginia, but the Mountaineers prevailed 10-6 to win the regional title.
West Virginia's odds of clinching 2024 College World Series title
West Virginia is given odds of around +3500 to win the College World Series. As underdogs to win their super regional series, the Mountaineers are one of the remaining long shots to potentially win the College World Series. Evansville and UConn were the biggest pre-series longshots.
West Virginia is currently around +210 to win its super regional series with North Carolina. As noted, the Mountaineers are facing considerably shorter odds than some of the other super regional underdogs, like Evansville, which opened at around +1400.
West Virginia's super regional schedule
The super regional series uses a best-of-three format. Game 1 is played at 6 p.m. EST on Friday. Game 2 is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on Saturday.
If West Virginia and North Carolina split the first two games, the third game will be played at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday. Friday's game will be televised on ESPN, with the remaining game(s) to be televised on ESPN2.
North Carolina's path to the super regional showdown was a challenging one. After an 11-8 win over No. 4 seed LIU to open regional play, UNC played three games against defending champion LSU.
UNC won the first matchup 6-2 but then lost to the Tigers 8-4 to set up a decisive third game. In that meeting, UNC needed 10 innings to outlast LSU 4-3 and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Can West Virginia prevail through a second straight round as an underdog? Weigh in below in our comments section!