MCWS 2026 championship preview: The thrill of victory and Omaha agony - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — Don't call it a comeback. They've been here for years. Nor should we call it a revenge tour. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and this is a city of flame-grilled meats. Besides, revenge isn't really these guys' style.

No, when the 79th NCAA college baseball championship series begins Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska (3 p.m. ET on ESPN), North Carolina and Oklahoma will be in the business of seeking to shoo ghosts of Men's College World Series past.

We can be overly romantic about the Road to Omaha, and we should be. Even in its modernized downtown state, the eight-team NCAA event still feels very much old-school. An annual family reunion in eye black. A national championship tournament that still retains the spirit of a kids' travel ball weekend.

But as with all affairs of the heart, the MCWS is also sneaky ruthless. When the dream to reach college baseball's pinnacle event ends with that same event ripping out that heart and showing it to you on live national television.

The Heels and Sooners know that hardball-horror movie feeling.

«The beauty of baseball is that you never know what might happen next, but that also works both ways,» Oklahoma shortstop Jaxon Willits said Friday. «The history of this series, it tells you that we should expect the unexpected to happen. And when that happens, no matter what it is, someone will benefit from that, but you know what? Someone also won't.»

For every thrill of victory, there has been agony of defeat. These two programs have reached this weekend via a series of wins, some unexpected, some when they were very much back on their, ahem, heels. And both programs know all too well about that Omaha agony.

This is UNC's 13th trip to Omaha, but it has yet to return