UNC Baseball: Nation's Top Team, Familiar Foes Await in Omaha

UNC baseball’s College World Series bracket has been revealed, including the No. 1 team and two ACC rivals.

UNC baseball players lift the Super Regional trophy / Jeffrey Camarati-USA TODAY Sports

The UNC baseball program may be back in Omaha for the first time since 2018, but this year’s iteration of the College World Series may seem eerily familiar to the Tar Heels based on the teams that have joined them.

RELATED: Super Regional Sweep Sends Tar Heels to College World Series

After the completion of the Super Regionals round of the NCAA Tournament, the remaining eight programs who had punched their ticket to Omaha were placed back into two four-team brackets, much like the set up of the opening round regional series.

The Tar Heels found themselves a part of the first bracket. Their opening battle is against fellow ACC power Virginia at 1 p.m. ET Friday, marking Game 1 of the College World Series.

Also joining them in Bracket 1 is the nation’s No. 1 ranked program in Tennessee out of the SEC, set to square off against the ACC's Florida State at 6 p.m. Friday.

The field is set.

See you Friday!#MCWS x #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/T98WN6xpju

— College World Series of Omaha (@CWSOmaha) June 11, 2024

Despite playing within the same conference, the Tar Heels have not faced Florida State this season. UNC did travel to Charlottesville, though, for a three-game series with Virginia at the beginning of April.

UNC ended up dropping that series, losing the first two games before avoiding the road sweep with a 12-7 victory in the third and final game. The Tar Heels struggled mightily at the mound in that series, allowing 28 Cavalier runs across the three contests.

Tar Heel fans will certainly be hoping for a different outcome this time around as UNC baseball squares off against Virginia on the biggest stage, with the winner advancing to play the winner of Florida State and Tennessee at 6 p.m. Sunday, following the losing teams' game at 1 p.m.

Much like the opening round, the four-team bracket will be double elimination. Every team in the bracket will have to lose two games in order to be officially eliminated, with the sole program who survives advancing to the College World Series Finals, June 22-24.

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