Hater's guide for the College World Series championship series

The College World Series finals begin tonight. Unfortunately, Florida baseball won't be a part of it, as the Gators were eliminated by Texas A&M earlier this week, ending their run in Omaha. The Aggies will be taking on the Tennessee Volunteers in a best-of-three series with games tonight, tomorrow, and Monday, if necessary.

It’s understandable, given the two teams playing in the finals, if Gator fans don’t want to watch because it’s going to require a rival team lifting the trophy. But this is also going to be a really fun series to watch, and if you’re at all a fan of college baseball, it is one you should check out.

So the following is a viewer guide for Gator fans who opt to watch the College World Series this weekend.

The Case For Wanting Tennessee To Lose

Well, it's Tennessee. It would seem to be a simple cut-and-dry answer as to which team between the two would be the lesser of two evils to lift the trophy. And for as much as head coach Tony Vitello seems to think the Vols are an "everything school," recent years haven't actually been kind to the Volunteers.

Softball was ranked third in the country, but it was bounced early from the SEC Tournament and failed to make the WCWS. In fact, it has only made it to Oklahoma City once since 2016. Men's basketball has only made the Elite Eight twice in program history and has never made the Final Four. Women's basketball at Tennessee hasn't been the same since Pat Summitt stepped away from the program.

And we all know Tennessee can't beat Florida in football to save their life.

So in truth, baseball is the one sport they have in Knoxville with legit championship aspirations. One can only imagine the sea of orange that would fill the streets if Tennessee were to pull this off. Plus they would become the first number one seed since Miami in 1999 to win the whole thing.

That isn't something Gator fans would want Tennessee to be able to lay claim to.

Why You Should Still Watch Tennessee

This is not the same Tennessee squad from two years ago who paraded around like a U-14 travel ball team with all the antics they had. The 2024 edition of Tennessee Baseball has been far more business like and are filled with plenty of star power.

Billy Amick is a potential first round draft pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. Christian Moore became the second player ever to hit for the cycle at the College World Series. Drew Beam, Kavares Tears, Blake Burke, and Dylan Dreling are all also guys who should go in the first three or four rounds of the 2024 draft.

The Case For Wanting Texas A&M To Lose

For Gator fans, there are very few worlds where you would want Tennessee to hoist the trophy. But in truth, if Tennessee were to win the national title, they would just blend in with all the other national champions from the SEC over recent years as a generic and obnoxious SEC fan base.

But time and time again the Aggies have tried to fit in with SEC culture and time and time again they keep missing the mark. Whether it's the awkward taunts from their "Yell leaders" to the downright deranged behavior of the two fans who crashed Florida's dugout last Saturday, there has always been something off with the Aggies.

We can pretty much predict how the people in Knoxville will react to winning the title. I'm not sure Gator fans, or any SEC fans, want to find out what the people in College Station have up their sleeves if they win the whole thing.

Why You Should Still Watch Texas A&M

Like Tennessee, the Aggies are filled with star power. And even though they are the number three overall seed, they have been a bit of an underdog story given the number of injuries they have suffered, highlighted by Braden Montgomery, who was a potential top-five pick in the 2024 MLB Draft before breaking his leg during the NCAA Tournament.

Chris Cortez and Ryan Prager both could go high in this year's draft and Jace LaViolette will be a top prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft.

Plus Aggie had coach Jim Schlossnagle is a class act and made it known last week when the two morons crashed the Gator dugout that he did not approve our their actions and apologized to Kevin O'Sullivan.