A guide to the 2025 College World Series: Two teams from Kentucky, but no UK

Only one state has two teams in the 2025 College World Series.

So, if you love baseball and can get past the fact that the University of Kentucky is not one of the two schools from the commonwealth in the hunt for an NCAA baseball championship, then buckle up.

The Louisville Cardinals and the Murray State Racers survived the regional and super-regional rounds of the 64-team NCAA Tournament and open World Series play along with six other schools later this week in Omaha, Nebraska.

No team from Kentucky has ever won the College World Series as the 78th edition gets underway Friday.

Who is in the 2025 College World Series?

Louisville, from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Murray State, from the Missouri Valley Conference, made it to Omaha despite not being among the top 16 seeds in the 64-team field. Joining the Cardinals (40-22) and Racers (44-15) will be No. 3 seed Arkansas (48-13) and No. 6 LSU (48-15) from the SEC, No. 8 independent Oregon State (47-14-1), No. 13 Coastal Carolina (53-11) from the Sun Belt, No. 15 UCLA (47-16) from the Big Ten and unseeded Arizona (44-19) from the Big 12.

What is the format for the College World Series?

The double-elimination event is divided into two four-team brackets. The winner of Bracket 1, which includes Arizona, Coastal Carolina, Louisville and Oregon State, will play the winner of Bracket 2, which includes Arkansas, LSU, Murray State and UCLA, in a best-of-three series to decide the champion.

Where is the College World Series played?

Charles Schwab Field in downtown Omaha hosts every CWS game. The 24,000-seat, $131 million ballpark opened in 2011, replacing Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as the home of the men’s College World Series. The field measures 335 feet to both left and right field and 408 to center field.

When does Louisville play its first game?

Louisville will open June 13 against Oregon State in a game that will be televised by ESPN at 7 p.m. EDT.

The winner will play the Coastal Carolina-Arizona winner on June 15 at 7 p.m. (ESPN2). The loser will take on the Coastal Carolina-Arizona loser on June 15 at 2 p.m. (ESPN). Bracket 1 concludes with games June 17, 18 and, if necessary, 19.

When does Murray State play its first game?

Murray State will open June 14 against UCLA in a game that will be televised by ESPN at 2 p.m. EDT.

The winner will play the Arkansas-LSU winner on June 16 at 7 p.m. (ESPN). The loser will take on the Arkansas-LSU loser on June 16 at 2 p.m. (ESPN). Bracket 1 concludes with games June 17, 18 and, if necessary, 19.

How did Louisville get to Omaha?

The Cardinals finished 10th in the 16-team ACC during the regular season and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament but were deemed by the NCAA Selection Committee to have done enough to warrant an at-large berth in the 64-team field.

Since then, the Cardinals have been on a roll, defeating East Tennessee State 8-3, No. 1 seed Vanderbilt 3-2 and Wright State 6-0 to win the Nashville Regional. U of L then hosted unseeded Miami (Fla.) in a best-of-three super regional, taking the opener 8-1, dropping the second game 9-6 and winning the clincher 3-2.

Louisville is making its sixth appearance in the CWS and its first since 2019.

How did Murray State get to Omaha?

The Racers tied Missouri State for the regular-season championship of the MVC, then defeated the Bears in the championship game of the conference tournament to claim the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

In the Oxford (Miss.) Regional, the Racers stunned No. 10 seed and host Ole Miss 9-6, beat Georgia Tech 13-11, fell to Ole Miss 19-8 then beat the Rebels 12-11 to capture their first NCAA regional championship ever.

That earned Murray State a trip to Duke for a best-of-three super-regional series against the unseeded Blue Devils. The Racers dropped the opener 7-4, then won 19-9 and 5-4 to earn their first-ever trip to the CWS.

Who is favored to win the College World Series?

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Arkansas Razorbacks, at +200, have the best odds of leaving Omaha with the championship trophy.

Next are LSU (+230), Coastal Carolina (+650), Oregon State (+650), UCLA (+850) and Arizona (+1400).

Louisville (+1600) and Murray State (+3500) are the longest shots to win the title.

Who won the College World Series last year?

Tennessee won the 2024 CWS, extending to five a streak of Southeastern Conference teams winning the championship. LSU (2023), Ole Miss (2022), Mississippi State (2021) and Vanderbilt (2019) came before. The 2020 event was canceled because of the pandemic.

What happened to UK?

The Wildcats, who made the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2024, were not able to make a repeat trip.

Kentucky finished 13th in the SEC regular season and was eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament but narrowly earned an NCAA at-large berth.

The Cats were sent to the Clemson (S.C.) Regional where they lost to West Virginia 4-3, beat USC Upstate 7-3, beat Clemson 16-4 then fell to West Virginia again, 13-12, in a game in which UK blew a pair of five-run leads.

Kentucky finished its season 31-26.

2025 College World Series schedule

All times Eastern

Friday, June 13

Game 1: Coastal Carolina vs. Arizona, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 2: Oregon State vs. Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, June 14

Game 3: UCLA vs. Murray State, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 4: Arkansas vs. LSU, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday, June 15

Game 5: Coastal Carolina-Arizona loser vs. Oregon State-Louisville loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 6: Coastal Carolina-Arizona winner vs. Oregon State-Louisville winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Monday, June 16

Game 7: UCLA-Murray State loser vs. Arkansas-LSU loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 8: UCLA-Murray State winner vs. Arkansas-LSU winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Tuesday, June 17

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Wednesday, June 18

Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Thursday, June 19

Game 13 (if necessary): Game 11 winner vs. Game 11 loser, TBA

Game 14 (if necessary): Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser, TBA

Saturday, June 21

CWS Finals Game 1: 6 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday, June 22

CWS Finals Game 2: 2:30 p.m. (ABC)

Monday, June 23

CWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary): 7:30 pm. (ESPN)