Traditional Powers Ride Into CWS Finals

This year's College World Series Championship Series will pit two of the sport's heavyweights. LSU, unbeaten since the SEC Tournament, will face Texas, which has won 6 national titles all-time, one more than the Tigers.

LSU convincingly swept through its half of the bracket, going 3-0 against Arkansas and Virginia. The Tigers are clicking offensively, conjuring up Gorilla Ball memories from the '90s, and OFs Ryan Schimpf, Mikie Mahtook, and Jared Mitchell are all on a tear. The Tigers are performing strongly as a defensive unit as well, having played error-free baseball so far in Omaha. Making LSU even more dangerous, its pitching staff is lined up perfectly for the upcoming best-of-3 series. Ace Anthony Ranaudo bounced back from a rough intro to Omaha by stymying Arkansas yesterday, and the sophomore righty will be ready for either Game 2 or 3. Louis Coleman, who has been money down the stretch, just like he has been all year, is rested and ready for the opener. You can count on him getting the Tigers off on the right foot. Matty Ott, Austin Ross, Chad Jones, Paul Bertuccini, Nolan Cain, Daniel Bradshaw, Buzzy Haydel, Ben Alsup, Chris Matulis, and Ryan Byrd give the LSU staff surprising depth; the Bayou Bengals are really steady in all facets of the game. They are playing with extreme confidence, and if nothing goes awry, my national champion pick from Selection Monday will come true.

Texas, however, is also playing well. (What title contender isn't?) The Longhorns have found their power strokes in Omaha, especially in a thriller versus ASU last night. Trailing by a run with 1 out and nobody on in the 9th against Sun Devil closer Mitchell Lambson, the 'Horns bashed two solo homers to come out victorious. C Cameron Rupp bombed one over the batter's eye in center to tie it, and OF Connor Rowe walked off with a blast to left. Texas won't be a pushover. That offense is suddenly a factor to go along with their amazing pitching and defense. Look for Chance Ruffin, Taylor Jungmann, and Cole Green to get the ball in the championship series. Expect a healthy dose of Austin Wood and Austin Dicharry out of the bullpen, of course.

It will be fascinating to see the two superpowers duke it out for national supremacy in this year's finals, which begin Monday night. While underdogs are awesome to watch, the favorites prevailing restores your faith in normalcy and actually makes predictions look good. I can't wait for the games to begin, as it should be a classic, action-packed matchup. I'm picking (and rooting for) LSU.

LSU's defenders have been flying all over the place to make the plays this week

*Photo courtesy of www.mlb.com