The 2011 College World Series kicks off Saturday at 11:00am pacific in Omaha, Nebraska with the North Carolina Tarheels facing the Vanderbilt Commodores. The entire College World Series will play out primarily on ESPN with ESPN2 picking up five of the games. Cal opens up against Virginia on Sunday at 11am on ESPN. If you don't get ESPN or you'll be away from your computer during any of these games, ESPN3.com provides a live online stream for viewing.
The College World Series is a little bit different than a more traditional bracket tournament like the NCAA basketball tournament. It's a double elimination tournament, which means you can't be knocked out on day one. Instead, winners move into a winners' bracket and losers' move into a losers' bracket. From there teams criss-cross before making their way into the national semifinals. The two semifinals will each have one team with no losses and one team with one loss, which means the one-loss team needs two wins in the semifinals, while the no-loss team needs only one win.
Here is a breakdown of how the brackets can proceed for each team. It's almost like a "choose your own adventure" type of pick. We'll provide updates on these brackets throughout the next two weeks as we root for Cal to continue their magical run.
Bracket 1
Game 1: Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina, 11am Pacific, Saturday, June 18
Game 2: Florida vs. Texas, 4pm Pacific, Saturday, June 18
Game 5: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 11am Pacific, Monday, June 20
Game 6: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 4pm Pacific, Monday, June 20 - ESPN2
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 4pm Pacific, Wednesday, June 22 - ESPN2
Game 11: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 11am Pacific, Friday, June 24
Game 13, if necessary: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser, 11am Pacific, Saturday, June 25
Bracket 2
Game 3: Virginia vs. California, 11am Pacific, Sunday, June 19
Game 4: South Carolina vs. Texas A&M, 4pm Pacific, Sunday, June 19 - ESPN2
Game 7: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 11am Pacific, Tuesday, June 21
Game 8: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 4pm Pacific, Tuesday, June 21
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 4pm Pacific, Thursday, June 23 - ESPN2
Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 4pm Pacific, Friday, June 24
Game 14, if necessary: Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser, 4pm Pacific, Saturday, June 25 - ESPN2
Championship Series
Championship Game 1: Bracket 1 Champion vs. Bracket 2 Champion, 5pm Pacific, Monday, June 27
Championship Game 2: Bracket 1 Champion vs. Bracket 2 Champion, 5pm Pacific, Tuesday, June 28
Championship Game 3: Bracket 1 Champion vs. Bracket 2 Champion, 5pm Pacific, Wednesday, June 29
Make sure and follow our 2011 College World Series StoryStream over the coming days for CWS results. For more on Cal, check out California Golden Blogs.