CWS format 2024: Double elimination, championship series rules for College World Series
The 2024 College World Series is well underway, and Omaha magic has already made an early appearance.
Eight teams have made it to college baseball's biggest party of the season in Omaha, Nebraska, looking to finish off a season-long mission that was started back in February: to win a national championship. But only one can win it.
Action kicked off Friday with No. 4 national seed North Carolina carrying its Chapel Hill Thrill magic into Omaha, as projected first-round pick Vance Honeycutt walked it off for the Tar Heels over ACC foe and No. 12 Virginia. The remainder of the field consists of Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Florida State, Florida and NC State.
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The Vols are looking to break the curse of the No. 1 overall seed at the CWS, as the No. 1 overall team has not left Omaha as the national champions since 1999 when Miami hoisted the championship trophy.
Whether it's the Vols or another team, this year's rendition of the CWS will end up being one to remember from a historical standpoint. Why? Six of the eight teams — Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, North Carolina, NC State and Florida State — have never won the tournament. One of the two winners, Florida, is the only unseeded team in this year's field.
Here's what you need to need to know about the structure of the CWS from its format, bracket and schedule:
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College World Series format, explained
As noted by the NCAA, the College World Series begins with an eight-team field that is divided into two four-team brackets. Similar to the Women's College World Series — and the regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament — both four-team brackets compete in a double-elimination style format until a winner is crowned for each bracket. From there, the two teams that come out of their respective brackets will compete in the best-of-three championship series.
One key distinction between the College World Series and the Women's College World Series is that baseball teams stay in the same bracket throughout the tournament. In the WCWS, the losing team of the "winner's bracket" game switches sides, then faces the team that lost its opening game but won the "loser's bracket" game.
Double elimination
Similarly to the regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament, the College World Series begins with a double-elimination style format comprised of two four-team brackets.
Each team starts the first round with a 0-0 record and could play up to five games in this part of the tournament. For the four teams that drop their first-round game, they will fall into the loser's bracket with an 0-1 record. Those who lose the elimination game are eliminated from the field with an 0-2 record, while the winner (1-1) will stay alive one more day.
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Teams that win their second game in the "winners' bracket" will advance to the College World Series semifinals with a 2-0 record, needing just one win in the semifinals to advance to the championship series. As for the loser of each "winner's bracket" game, it will fall into the "loser's bracket" and face elimination against the winner of the "loser's bracket" game.
For teams to make it out of the "loser's bracket" and into the championship series, they will need to win each of its elimination games and beat the representative of the "winner's bracket" twice in the College World Series semifinals, ultimately going 4-1.
Teams that advance to the semifinals with a 2-0 record need only to win one more game, and can advance to the championship series with a perfect 3-0 record, or — if they lose Game 1 of the semifinals — a 3-1 record.
Championship series
Similarly to the super regional round, the College World Series championship series is a best-of-three series. To be crowned the CWS national champion, a team must win two of the three games in the series.
Below are the roads a team can take to win the CWS championship series, beginning with the double-elimination round with their accompanying record:
Five games: Win first-, second-round games; semifinal game; and both CWS finals (5-0)
Six games: Win first-, second-round games; lose first semifinal game; win second semifinal game; win both CWS finals (5-1)
Seven games: Lose first- or second-round game; win out in loser's bracket; lose first or second CWS finals game; win Game 3 of CWS championship finals (6-1)
𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐀.#MCWS x #RoadToOmaha x @NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/qtiy1B1zxF
— College World Series of Omaha (@CWSOmaha) June 14, 2024
College World Series bracket 2024
Here's a full breakdown of the two CWS brackets:
Bracket 1:
No. 1 Tennessee
No. 4 North Carolina
No. 8 Florida State
No. 12 Virginia
Bracket 2:
No. 2 Kentucky
No. 3 Texas A&M
No. 10 NC State
Florida
College World Series schedule 2024
Here's the full schedule of the CWS from its first-round games to championship series, including start times and TV channel information:
All times Eastern
Friday, June 14
Game 1: (4) North Carolina vs. (12) Virginia | 2 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 2: (1) Tennessee vs (8) Florida State | 7 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Saturday, June 15
Game 3: (2) Kentucky vs (10) NC State | 2 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 4: (3) Texas A&M vs Florida | 7 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Sunday, June 16
Game 5: Loser of Game 2 vs. No. 12 Virginia | 2 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 6: No. 4 North Carolina vs. Winner of Game 2 | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo)
Monday, June 17
Tuesday, June 18
Wednesday, June 19
Thursday, June 20
* If necessary
College World Series finals schedule 2024
Saturday, June 22
CWS Game 1: TBD vs. TBD | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Sunday, June 23
CWS Game 2: TBD vs. TBD | 2 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Monday, June 24
CWS Game 3*: TBD vs. TBD | 7 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
* If necessary
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: 2024 CWS double elimination, championship series format, explained
