Parity. That’s what fans have been clamoring for for quite some time in college sports.
That’s what has been said at least. Parity is the thinly veiled facade for what college sports fans have been begging for. What they really mean is they want “less SEC teams and more inclusion from teams around the country, not from the SEC.” Period.
I don’t necessarily even disagree. I grew up in the 1990’s and loved when teams outside the current conference I cover were relevant. I miss Colorado and Nebraska being a relevant rivalry in the landscape of college football. I miss UCLA and Arizona being blue bloods in the top ten in college basketball. I miss Southern Cal and Cal State Fullerton showing up in Omaha for the CWS too.
We may not ever get that again. However, this year’s field feels like a taste of that as well as a big dose of the aforementioned parity.
There’s still one game left to decide the eighth and final team destined for the College World Series. Once Duke and Murray State record their final out in Durham tonight, the Omaha Eight will be set. Regardless, if it’s the Racers or the Blue Devils, fans from across the country will get one of the more diverse CWS groups in a long time.
The field will feature no more than two teams from any one conference. It will also include two non-Power Four programs at the least and three if Murray State can somehow pull off an upset over Duke. Only five of the eight teams were national seeds or regional hosts, which means 37.5 percent of the field will be non-1 Seeds.
Conferences in the 2025 MCWS, with a MVC (Murray State) vs. ACC (Duke) game looming on Monday night.
2 SEC (Arkansas, LSU)
1 ACC (Louisville)
1 Big 12 (Arizona)
1 Big Ten (UCLA)
1 Independent (Oregon State)
1 Sun Belt (Coastal Carolina)— Rob Anderson (@_robanderson) June 9, 2025
While all of this is cool, don’t let the last paragraph fool you into thinking this is some field of underdogs and Cinderellas. Every team besides Murray State has been to the College World Series at least once, and five of the eight have won a previous 16 national titles combined. There are national powers, prominent programs, and incredible storylines abound.
We’ll see who takes an early leap in Omaha and who finishes strong at the Men’s College World Series starting this Friday, June 13.
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