Here’s something else to noodle on in response…
Since the SEC expanded the Baseball Tournament in the 90’s, only 4 teams have won the regular season title and also captured the Tournament title.
Two of them went on to win the National Championship.
I like those odds a lot better!
I guess that would suggest those teams were supremely talented to win that trifecta.
Baseballs aren’t shaped like footballs but they still bounce in funny ways. There’s obviously no guarantee we’ll win it all. However, anyone putting money on a team other than Arkansas is betting on an underdog at this point.
It’s funny how all of us fall victim to superstition even though pretty much all of us know better. When it comes to statistical analysis, I’ll always defer to you, Wiz, but like you, I think the odds favor us winning the CWS because by all objective measures, we are best team in the field. Unfortunately, the best team doesn’t always win, especially in baseball.
I’d put us as the favorite to win it all. Our odds should be better than any other team playing. I doubt our odds are as good as the field, however. We might have something like a 30% chance of winning it all. The next best team might have a 20% chance. (And, yeah, I pulled those numbers out the air.)
A lot of times the No. 1 overall seed came from the Pac-12 or ACC. I can’t imagine there were many top overall seeds that were more game tested than Arkansas this year.
DVH is well aware of #1 Seed Curse & will have have this team well prepared for the CWS. Despite the Hogs usually being the favorite throughout this season, this team has played like it had something to prove against some of the best & highly motivated competition in college baseball.
Baseball players are known to be superstitious, but DVH may be the best at motivating his players & maintaining the team focus so that the odds are in our favor.
I think that’s right. I don’t remember any team any time playing more top flight competition week in & week out than we have.
There’s never been a No. 1 seed that didn’t win the national title after coronavirus. 
That’s exactly right,our schedule has been the toughest ever IMO,we have seen every type pitcher you can see, so there will nothing this team hasn’t seen as good as or better,will all be about Execution on that given day.
I’m frustrated I cannot now remember where I read it (maybe D1 baseball)
But we are beyond just talking about a National Championship here now. If Hogs win this thing it will be the greatest season in the 21st century and among the tops ever.
Could it really happen???
Great investigative reporting Dudley! 
It’s bad luck to be superstitious.
We were good enough to win it in '18 but the breaks didn’t go our way (not just the popup but the rainout that allowed them to reset their pitching). We’re better this year and we’re good enough to overcome some bad breaks.
I drove up to Omaha after we beat Florida in '18, stayed with a good friend who is a neurosurgeon there and went to games 1 and 2 against the Molesters (the Monday rainout meant I had to get back to Arkansas to work the night of game 3, and I’m not sorry I missed that). I’ve already let him know to get his downstairs bedroom ready, and I’ve checked flights from WLM to OMA for the Saturday before the championship series.
You are spot on with that point, SF. People usually forget about that.
I was bitching and moaning the entire day of the rain-out, because it had cost us a well-deserved advantage over Oregon State (who had lost their first game and had to come through the loser’s bracket on their side). It was nobody’s “fault”, but it cost us none-the-less.
My ample gut tells me that we have somewhere between a 20 and 40% chance of winning the whole thing. For one team out of 64, that’s pretty dad-burned good.
But like everyone else at this point, I’ll be crest-fallen if we don’t bring the Championship home. That’s not fair to the kids on the team…Win or fall short of that, this has been a season for the ages, one that should be remembered and celebrated regardless of the ultimate outcome…but “the heart wants what the heart wants”…
I checked to see if there are any future odds on the CWS in Vegas. If there are I can’t find any. Maybe later in the week. But I would have to think we’d be the clear favorite.
And I walked by some guy sitting outside TD Ameritrade, perusing his phone. He had on a Hog baseball hat with a hog hat on top of that. I said, “Nice hat.” It was some guy named Jeff.
I recall that. I also recall meeting Ribby a while later that day; see my avatar.
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