Mapping out Auburn baseball's Road to Omaha
Butch Thompson's Tigers snatched the No. 4 overall seed. Here's a look at who stands between them and the College World Series.
AUBURN — It’s all laid out in front of Auburn baseball now.
The Tigers were named the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, meaning their entire postseason run will be played at Plainsman Park until the College World Series in Omaha — should they make it that far.
“Yeah, just awesome,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said of his team’s seeding. “I’m just thankful. But again, who do I spread that to? Our administration, the buildout, how we continue to build a program, our fans, nobody more than our players and our coaches.
“It’s been a pretty good level of consistency, but at the same time, there’s some more doors that we could knock down.”
Auburn will open its tournament run on Friday at 12 p.m. CT against the No. 4 seed in the regional, the Horizon League champion Milwaukee Panthers.
If they win that game, the Tigers will play the winner between No. 2 seed UCF and No. 3 seed NC State. And, if they win that game, they will face the winner of an elimination game, with two chances to punch their ticket to the Super Regional round.
If Auburn drops its opener to Milwaukee in upset fashion, then it would play the loser of the aforementioned 2/3 game — with the loser of that game being eliminated. And, should Auburn win its first game but drop its second, it would have to win three games in a row to win its regional.
The Auburn regional is paired up with the Lincoln regional. That means if the Tigers were able to defend home field and win this weekend, they would welcome the winner of the bracket consisting of Nebraska, Ole Miss, Arizona State and South Dakota State to Plainsman Park for a three-game series.
The winner would then head to Omaha for the College World Series. Auburn is seeking its third trip there in the last eight seasons.
With the field now set, let’s preview all of Auburn’s potential opponents on its road to Omaha:
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