Sixteen teams survived regional weekend. Eight supers decide who gets the last eight spots in Omaha. Every series is best-of-three, every host earned the right to set the schedule, and several of these matchups would have felt impossible on Selection Monday.

We start in Morgantown.

Morgantown — West Virginia vs. Cal Poly

Country roads, take me home — once again. West Virginia is hosting a super regional for the third straight year, and the Mountaineers look like a team that finally breaks through the door they have been knocking on. The program has never been to Omaha. Not once in program history. WVU's best finish is a super regional — back-to-back trips in 2024 and 2025, both ending in two-game sweeps on the road. This is the year the narrative changes at home.

Cal Poly is the hard part. The Mustangs were the story of Los Angeles — three straight wins, both top seeds eliminated, the kind of regional run that makes you hesitate before picking against them again. Fair. But a three-game series in Morgantown is a different test than a four-team bracket in Jackie Robinson Stadium. West Virginia survived four elimination games to get here, beat Kentucky twice on the back end, and looks sharp at the plate. The Mountaineers have the pitching depth to navigate a weekend. Cal Poly has magic. We are betting on the host.

Pick: West Virginia

Troy — Troy vs. Little Rock

Call it the battle of the bracket busters. Little Rock won Hattiesburg as a No. 4 seed. Troy took Gainesville as a No. 3. Both programs spent the weekend proving they belonged in this conversation.

Little Rock looked sharp — no question. Troy faced a tougher regional draw on paper and still found a gear when it mattered, beating Florida 16-11 and closing Monday with a 10-2 statement. That is a team peaking at the right moment. In a three-game series on Troy's campus, we favor the Trojans.

Pick: Troy

Chapel Hill — North Carolina vs. USC

USC's regional path was the stuff of legend — Texas State on Friday, seven games total, a double-dip over Texas A&M to get out of College Station. The Trojans have fight and they have bats.

North Carolina is still the pick. The Tar Heels handled East Carolina twice in the same regional after the Pirates' 14-inning opening-night marathon with Tennessee. Chapel Hill is loaded, the home field matters in a super, and UNC has the rotation and lineup balance to win two of three. USC's bullpen is worth watching after the mileage they logged last week. We like the Tar Heels to advance.

Pick: North Carolina

Auburn — Auburn vs. Ole Miss

Ole Miss is no slouch. The Rebels beat Arizona State twice in extra innings in Lincoln — 7-6 in 14 on Friday, 5-4 in 10 on Sunday — and they have arms in the bullpen who can shorten games. This is a real SEC super regional.

Auburn's advantage is on the mound. The Tigers may have the best pitching staff in the country — starters who can go deep, a bullpen that stabilized after Milwaukee's opening-night shock, and a regional weekend that hardened them rather than broke them. Ole Miss will score. Auburn has what it takes to limit the damage across three games. This is an Omaha-bound pitching staff playing at home.

Pick: Auburn

Lawrence — Kansas vs. Oklahoma

Old Big 12, new stakes. Oklahoma's regional run is one of the best stories left in the bracket — up through the loser's bracket, 15-8 over Georgia Tech on Sunday, 8-7 on Monday to take Atlanta. The Sooners have earned the right to be here.

Kansas looked sharper in its own building. The Jayhawks beat Arkansas 13-10 in the regional final on Sunday after a lot of Arkansas fans spent the week complaining about the Lawrence assignment. Hoglund Ballpark was rocking for four days. It is going to be louder this weekend. Kansas has the bats, the crowd, and the momentum of a program hosting its first super regional in the modern era. We have them as the second Big 12 team heading to Omaha — paired with a West Virginia team we already picked above. The last time at least two Big 12 programs reached the College World Series in the same year was 2016, when Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas Tech all made it. Two from this league in one June would be the first multi-bid Big 12 CWS in a decade.

Pick: Kansas

Tuscaloosa — Alabama vs. St. John's

St. John's was the best No. 4 seed story of regional weekend — beat Florida State on opening night, never lost, closed out the Seminoles 5-4 on Monday after FSU won three straight elimination games just to get there. The Red Storm looked sharp all weekend.

Alabama should still win this series. The Crimson Tide survived an 11-inning regional final against Oklahoma State and has the talent to advance. But this is an upset alert. Alabama did not look like a team playing its best baseball in the regional — good enough to survive, not dominant enough to relax. St. John's has nothing to lose and a hot lineup. If the Tide sleepwalk through Game 1, this super gets uncomfortable fast.

Pick: Alabama

Austin — Texas vs. Oregon

Oregon has power. The Ducks closed their regional with a 4-1 win over Oregon State and bring a lineup that can change a game in one inning.

Texas has seen power all season in the SEC. What separates the Longhorns here is the weekend rotation. Luke Harrison, Dylan Volantis, and Ruger Riojas — Riojas has looked sharp of late — give Texas three legitimate answers across a three-game series. At Disch-Falk, that rotation is the pick.

Pick: Texas

Athens — Georgia vs. Mississippi State

Mississippi State ran through Starkville — 19-5 over Louisiana in the regional final — and has the kind of roster that could have made a deep run from a different bracket slot.

Georgia is the pick. This is a team with the bats, and for the first time in a long time, the arms to match. The Bulldogs handled Liberty in two straight after weather suspended the opener and look like a program that belongs in Omaha. Mississippi State may steal a game. We do not see them winning two of three in Athens against this Georgia team.

Pick: Georgia

The Short List

West Virginia, Troy, North Carolina, Auburn, Kansas, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia. Eight picks. Eight hosts or near-hosts. After the chaos of regional weekend, the supers may tilt back toward the teams that survived their own buildings — with a few bracket busters still alive to make us regret at least one of these.