NEBRASKA’S Bracket Is the Harder Road – And That’s OK.
First of all, I realize some people might have sped-read the opening six words and thought it was a complaint, it’s unfair, blah blah blah.
It’s not – just the opposite. But let’s start with where we are.
First of all, the opening round games of the WCWS are set just like an NCAA basketball tournament bracket – you play who you play, there’s no re-seeding. The only reason the Huskers’ half of the bracket is tougher is because the two Super Regional upsets happened in the other bracket- #11-seeded Texas Tech took out #6 Florida and #17-32-seeded Mississippi State surprised #3 Oklahoma. The winner of #2 Texas and #7 Tennessee will face the winner of those two on Saturday.
On the Huskers’ side, the favorites won all four Super Regional matchups. Should the Huskers defeat Arkansas (#1 nationally in RPI but the #5 seed) on Thursday night, they would face the winner of top-seeded Alabama and their old friend #8 UCLA on Saturday.
So why does the harder road not worry me too much?
Because they’ve faced that road plenty this season and come out on top again and again – and it was self-inflicted from the jump as Coach Rhonda Revelle assembled a non-conference schedule which was rated as the toughest in the country.
In the Lincoln Regional, they were saddled with two Top 25 teams – Grand Canyon and Louisville – and a South Dakota squad with Madison Evans who surprised everyone going 1-2 with the two losses being 4-1 to Nebraska and a 5-4 extra innings thriller against South Dakota. The total score of Nebraska’s three games was 7-1, not exactly the dominating performance everyone expected.
But when asked about the battles, Jordy Frahm just talked about how much fun games are when you can’t take a pitch off, saying, “I think it just mentally it has us exactly right where we want to be moving forward.”
#13 Oklahoma State who was 5-1 since 2021 against the Huskers agreed after they and All-American pitcher Ruby Mehlan were blitzed 17-2 in a Friday-Saturday sweep.
And as far as their opponents in the WCWS are concerned, there is familiarity there as they have faced four of their seven opponents going a combined 5-3 against Texas Tech, Tennessee, Texas and Big 10 mate UCLA. The Vols were the only one of the four they failed to defeat.
They have been battle-tested both in the non-con games then the post-season and answered the bell each time. They’ve got pitching which can outlast squads trying to ride one high-quality arm. So if the Huskers have to battle through three higher quality opponents to get to next Wed-Fri’s best-of-three championship series?
It just kinda feels right.
HUSKER HEAT Foul-UP – And It’s My Fault
For those of you who watch Husker Heat live on Twitter – and from the crickets in the virtual room during the broadcast, it was more than a few of you – that feed was unavailable Tuesday night. I had received a notice that our podcast hosting software lost the Corn Nation Twitter link and we managed to get the link re-established.
But me, being much more knowledgable about sports than the intricacies of the podcasting world, failed to realize I should’ve have reloaded everything once it was fixed.
So. While I can’t reload the live feed to Twitter, I do invite you to click the link above and enjoy the replay on YouTube Live. Mylie and I had a blast. Pupper Tatum made an appearance – and I promise you can watch on Twitter next Tuesday as we prepare for the best-of-3 Championship Series.
Why show no confidence now?
A Pile of WCWS Softball Nuggets
- The WCWS is not saturated with conference champions – but this is not unusual when five of the eight all come from one conference, the SEC. And what are the odds of that conference’s regular season champion not making it. Ask Oklahoma.
- Who we do have is Big 12 regular-season champion Texas Tech and SEC tournament champs Texas.
- Oh, and also the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the only WCWS participant to win their regular season and conference tournament titles.
- If you think the weird love from the Big 10 and its coaches for UCLA ends there, it apparently extends to the bookmakers as well. The WCWS opening odds?
- The gamblers spoke earlier today with the adjusted moneylines. It stayed a little weird with #11 Texas Tech and their aggressively pursued transfer roster moving up (they do have two high-quality starters) as well as UCLA still ahead of Nebraska despite a 1-3 record against. But the Huskers remain in the betting mix.
- Where UCLA is at a disadvantage is having only one quality starter – and the remaining staff having a 6.23 combined ERA, at least back before the Big 10 conference final. And I doubt they saw the field in the regionals – at least without a huge lead. Riding one solo arm is a tall ask – Ask Tech’s NiJaree Canady who got torched in last year’s Game 3 final.
- Mississippi State’s upset over Oklahoma marks the first WCWS the Sooners have missed since 2015. A few Sooners fans seemed less gracious online about Frahm’s transfer after this happened. However, many were still in full understanding of what coming home meant to her.
- Speaking of Texas Tech, those attending their games may be treated to the sight of former NBA highlight reel Jason “White Chocolate” Williams whose daughter plays for the Red Raiders. He was very involved from the stands in their spicy series vs. Florida. Here’s some of his basketball highlights to make your day better – watch as many or as few as you like: