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Number two seed Florida Gators will be rubbing their hands in anticipation of meeting the Virginia Cavaliers. Florida has already had one aspect of the College World Series going their way — they have avoided the dreaded bracket of death.
While all the teams that made the final eight are worthy of their places, some teams are stronger than others and are to be avoided until the last possible moment.
Florida’s bracket has Virginia, TCU, and the Cinderella story of this year’s tournament, Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. No one will be underestimating these teams but it’s the kinder side of the draw for Florida as the top remaining seed in the bracket.
The opposite bracket has number one seed Wake Forest, Stanford, and the LSU of Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, the two hottest prospects on the amateur draft.
For all of the Gators' hype, their regular season record of 50-15 isn’t too dissimilar to number seven seed Cavalier’s 50-13 making for a pretty level game.
The Virginia Way
The Cavaliers started off their Super Regionals with a loss to The Duke Blue Devils and from there on, it looked like an uphill task to make it to Omaha for the College World Series. But they’ve done things the hard way all year and they pulled off two wins, obliterating Duke 14-4 and 12-2 to clinch their place in the last eight.
While Florida made easy work of South Carolina, winning narrowly 5-4 in game one and then showing their class by beating them 4-0 to book passage to Omaha, they won’t take the Cavaliers lightly.
Virginia also has one of the hottest prospects in Brian Edgington, who showed his quality in games two and three against Duke. The Cavaliers' win against Duke was the 24th time that they had scored ten or more runs this season, with their record standing at 23-1 in those games; not an opponent Florida can afford to take lightly.
Every time the Cavaliers have proceeded to the College World Series, they have lost game one of The Super Regionals. It’s in their DNA to recover and Florida will be wary of their powers of recovery. It is simply the Virginia way.
Start times, TV Channel, live stream info and more about NCAA World Series 2023
Florida vs Virginia will be the evening kickoff on Friday, June 16, at 7 PM EST, which will be broadcasted on ESPN. The live stream for the game can be found on FuboTV.
The winner will face the winner of the TCU-Oral Roberts tie since they fall in the same bracket.
