College World Series 2021: Pairings, Game Times, TV

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Six of the top nine teams in the country have survived two weeks of play in the NCAA baseball tournament to advance to the College World Series in Omaha. Here's the complete schedule and pairings.

The NCAA baseball tournament started with 64 teams, and now we're down to eight as the college baseball world returns to Omaha for the first time in two very long years.

Vanderbilt is back to defend its 2019 title in Omaha; there was no tournament a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commodores, one of three SEC teams in the field, are a threat again, mostly because of ace starters Kumar Rocker (13-3, 2.46 earned run average) and Jack Leiter (10-3, 2.16 ERA), both projected as high first-round picks.

Mississippi State is back for its third straight CWS. The Bulldogs are led by former Indiana coach Chris Lemonis, who has won Super Regionals in both of his seasons in Starkville.

No. 2 Texas is back for its 37th College World Series, far and away an NCAA record. The Longhorns are the highest remaining seed after No. 1 Arkansas was stunned by N.C. State over the weekend, losing the Super Regional after winning the series opener 21-2 and then losing on Saturday and Sunday.

The tournament has gone through different formats through the years, and now the field is divided into two four-team groups, with the winner of each group surviving a double-elimination format. The two survivors will then go head-to-head in a best two-of-three series, starting on Monday, June 28.

Here is the schedule for the 2021 College World Series:

Saturday, June 19

Game 1: N.C. State (35-18) vs. No. 9 Stanford (38-15), 2p ET (ESPN)
Game 2: No. 5 Arizona (45-16) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (45-15), 7p ET (ESPN)

Sunday, June 20

Game 3: Virginia (35-25) vs. No. 3 Tennessee (50-16), 2p ET (ESPN2)
Game 4: No. 7 Mississippi State (45-16) vs. No. 2 Texas (47-15), 7p ET (ESPN2)

Monday, June 21

Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2p ET (ESPNU)
Game 6: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7p ET (ESPN)

Tuesday, June 22

Game 7: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 2p ET (ESPNU)
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7p ET (ESPN2)

Wednesday, June 23

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 7p ET (ESPN)

Thursday, June 24

Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7p ET (ESPN2)

Friday, June 25

Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 2p ET (ESPN2)
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7p ET (ESPN)

Saturday, June 26

Game 13: 2p ET (ESPN) (if necessary)
Game 14: 7p ET (ESPN2) (if necessary)

Monday, June 28

CWS Finals (Best-of-3 series)
Game 1: 7p ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday, June 29

CWS Finals (Best-of-3 series)
Game 2: 7p ET (ESPN2)

Wednesday, June 30

CWS Finals (Best-of-3 series)
Game 3: 7p ET (ESPN2) (if necessary)

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