MCWS 2026: How UNC, Oklahoma are looking to remain undefeated in Omaha - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — The championship combatants for the 79th edition of the Men's College World Series were determined on a windy, sunny, shockingly non-hot Wednesday.

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Oklahoma Sooners have little in common when it comes to Omaha history. They own a combined 25 MCWS appearances, but somehow, they have never faced off in the series and haven't ever been in Nebraska playing baseball at the same time.

Yet, they looked an awful lot like each other on Wednesday. Both jumped out to leads. Both tried their best to blow those leads. But ultimately, both vanquished their one-loss opponents.

The Heels defeated Omaha-darling West Virginia 12-7; they had a 12-1 lead before surrendering six runs over the final two frames. And the Sooners outlasted fellow SEC opponent Georgia 11-4, defeating the nation's top homer-slugging squad by blasting five four-baggers of their own.

In the end, the numbers won. Those numbers being the rawhide, red-seamed catbird seat that is a 2-0 MCWS start.

For the non-Omaha initiated, the Men's College World Series is an eight-team, two-branched, double-elimination bracket. The goal of every team is to distance themselves from that elimination by reaching two wins while everyone else on their assigned side of the tourney suffers one loss or more. Being 2-0 provides the safety net of having a loss to give stuffed away in their back pocket that the others do not. But in a perfect world — perfect as in turning a 2-0 start into a 3-0 start — that back pocket stays buttoned up.

For the past three years, both sides of that bracket have produced an undefeated team. So, for the third straight year, there will be no games played on Thursday. And that's just fine by these two latest 3-0