Tennessee’s lineup is everything as advertised and then some.
After watching the Volunteers what seemed like effortlessly overpower Southern Miss’ pitching staff, if there was any notion that Tennessee shouldn’t be the No. 1 overall seed, then those thoughts should be expunged.
This year’s NCAA tournament was touted to have some of the biggest parody, with what looked to be a field loaded with dangerous No. 2 seeded teams, including Southern Miss. Instead, for the first time since the creation of Super Regional, not a single No. 2 seeded team advanced and went a combined 19-34.
Rather, the most talked about team in this year’s tournament has been No. 4 seeded Evansville (38-24). The Purple Aces are without question this year’s Cinderella story after becoming just the ninth No. 4 seed to reach a Super Regional.
Evansville upset Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which is the program’s first appearance since 2006 and sixth all-time. The Purple Aces then upset No. 16 East Carolina twice to make their first-ever Super Regional.
Now, Evansville will have the daunting task of traveling and taking on No. 1 Tennessee (53-11) for a trip to the College World Series. The Purple Aces are the only No. 4 seed that will have faced the No. 1 overall seeded team.
This now leads to the question, what ranks as the biggest upsets in college baseball postseason history? The college baseball tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, so this will be a look at the last 25 years.
2009 SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles didn’t earn the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and had just a 35-win season, but had enough of a resume to be one of the last teams chosen for an at-large bid as head coach Corky Palmer’s retirement loomed.
As the No. 3 seed in the Atlanta Regional, Southern Miss upset host team Georgia Tech and No. 8 Florida to make its only college world series appearance.
The Golden Eagles nearly upset No. 1 Texas but lost 7-6 and went 0-2 in the CWS.
2012 STONY BROOK/KENT STATE
Stony Brook was a 46-win team and had been to the NCAA tournament twice since 2008.
The Sea Wolves were placed in Miami’s Regional and defeated the host Hurricanes 10-2 to open their postseason run. Notably, Miami went 0-2 that year and was outscored 22-4.
But after Stony Brook dropped a close game to No. 2 UCF 9-8, the Sea Wolves took down Missouri State and UCF to face No. 7 national seed LSU in one of the toughest environments in college baseball.
Stony Brook opened the Super Regional with a 5-4 loss in 12 innings to the Tigers, but came back and upset LSU to reach its only College World Series appearance. But the magic ran out as Stony Brook went 0-2 in Omaha.
Another Cinderella team that same year was No. 3 seeded Kent State, which gets somewhat forgotten because of the magnitude of Stony Brook’s run.
The Golden Flash of Kent State ran through the winner’s bracket in Purdue’s Regional, then upset No. 5 national-seeded Oregon. Kent State also won a game in the College World Series after defeating No. 1 Florida in the loser’s bracket.
2023 ORAL ROBERTS
A different set of Golden Eagles ends up on this list.
In a similar case to Stony Brook, Oral Roberts was no stranger to the NCAA tournament and despite having 46 wins entering the tournament, was deemed to be a No. 4 seed in No. 11 Oklahoma State’s Regional.
The Golden Eagles won three straight games in the winner’s bracket and then defeated Oregon in three games to advance to the World Series. However, Oregon was a No. 2 seed in Vanderbilt’s Regional.
Oral Roberts opened the World Series with a victory over TCU but then dropped its next two games.
2019 MICHIGAN
The Big Ten has never exactly been known for baseball, but that season received five bids to the NCAA tournament, with the Michigan Wolverines pulling off one of the craziest postseason runs.
With 41 wins, Michigan received an at-large bid and was placed in No. 16 Oregon State’s regional as a No. 3 seed. Oddly enough, the Wolverines never had to face the Beavers and went 3-0 in the regional before taking down No. 1 overall UCLA in three games in the Super Regional.
Michigan ran through the CWS winner’s brackets and won the opening game of the national title series against Vanderbilt, but it finally cooled off and dropped the next two games to the Commodores.
2022 OLE MISS
This one still haunts Southern Miss fans, but the 2022 Ole Miss team was one of the last to be selected as an at-large team to the NCAA tournament and went on to win the national championship.
The No. 3 seeded Rebels went on a tear in the postseason tournament and lost one game in that run.
Ole Miss ran through No. 6 Miami’s Regional as they capped of that regional with a 22-6 win against No. 2 Arizona. The Rebels then faced in-state rival Southern Miss but outscored the No. 11 overall-seeded Golden Eagles 15-0 in two games of the Super Regional.
Ole Miss then beat SEC rivals Auburn and Arkansas in the College World Series before sweeping Oklahoma to win its first-ever national championship.
BONUS 2016 COASTAL CAROLINA
It’s often forgotten that the 2016 national champion Chanticleers were a No. 2 seed and should have probably hosted. Coastal held a No. 12 RPI and No. 7-rated non-conference strength of schedule but didn’t earn the right to host.
However, because they were part of the Big South at the time, Coastal Carolina will be remembered by the average fan as a Cinderella team even though they had a nation leading 55 wins and led the country in home runs.
Coastal Carolina defeated No. 8 LSU in the Super Regional before eventually beating Arizona in three games to claim its national title.
2008 FRESNO STATE
Should Evansville win against Tennessee, the comparisons will be instantly made to Fresno State. Although the Bulldogs' program already had three CWS appearances meaning that Fresno's program is in a much different state than Evansville.
The Bulldogs are easily regarded as one of the most incredible title runs of all time, as they are the only No. 4 seed ever to win the national championship.
With 33 wins entering the postseason tournament and earning the only berth for the WAC that year, Fresno State was understandably deemed a fourth-seeded team in Long Beach State’s Regional.
The Bulldog’s postseason run had its flair for dramatics. Fresno State won the first two games of Long Beach’s Regional but suffered a 15-1 loss to San Diego, but recovered with a 5-1 win.
The Bulldogs then faced No. 3 overall Arizona State, and despite losing the first game 12-4, they bounced back and defeated the Wildcats, making it arguably the biggest upset in college baseball history.
From there, Fresno State survived the loser’s bracket of the College World Series and, after losing the opening game of the national championship series, bounced back to defeat Georgia, the No. 8 national seed that year.
Here’s the all-time list of No. 4 seed matchups in the Super Regionals:
2006: Missouri vs No. 5 Cal State Fullerton
2008: Fresno State vs No. 3 Arizona State
2012: Stony Brook vs No. 7 LSU
2014: College of Charleston vs Texas Tech (hosted a regional, but not a national seed)
2015: VCU vs No. 5 Miami
2017: Davidson vs No. 5 Texas A&M
2021: South Florida vs No. 2 Texas
2023: Oral Roberts vs Oregon (No. 2 seed in Nashville Regional)
2024: Evansville vs No. 1 Tennessee
Follow @AndrewAbadie on Twitter and Facebook
