Texas, TCU Hold State’s Last Chances to Reach College World Series

Texas, TCU Hold State’s Last Chances to Reach College World Series
Fact Checked by Michael Peters

The University of Texas and Texas Christian stand ready to defend Texas’ honor this weekend as they are the only schools from the Lone Star State left standing in the NCAA baseball tournament.

TCU earned the right to host a Super Regional against Indiana State, while Texas is headed to California to try to eliminate Stanford after Texas A&M failed to beat the Cardinal. Dallas Baptist, Texas Tech and Sam Houston also fell in the regional round. 

For the Horned Frogs, it’s their first time to host a Super Regional since 2017. The Longhorns are headed to their third straight Super Regional and the 13th in school history. Texas is also looking to advance to a third straight College World Series for the first time since it played in four straight from 2002-2005.

BetTexas.com took a look at the NCAA record book to see how the home team vs. road team has fared in the Super Regional in the past 10 tournaments. The overall road record is 78-116 with 29 road teams finding their way to the CWS.

So, it’s a good bet that TCU will take down Indiana State, which is playing in its first Super Regional. And it’s not outside the realm of possibility for Texas to go to Stanford and finish what Texas A&M could not. After all, the Longhorns advanced to the College World Series last year by winning their Super Regional on the opposite coast in Greenville, N.C., against East Carolina. 

Unfortunately for those wanting to wager on Texas and TCU in the NCAA Super Regionals, there are no legal Texas sportsbooks. Bills in support of betting died during the most recent session of the Texas Legislature, which won’t meet again to take up the topic until 2025.

Road Records for Past 10 Super Regionals

Sometimes the road is the perfect place to be for the NCAA college baseball tournament. Every year at least one road team in the Super Regional round advances to the College World Series and last year there were six teams who conquered as road warriors on the way to Omaha, Neb. Ole Miss catapulted from their Super Regional win at Southern Miss to the national championship.


Year Road Team Record Road Teams to CWS
202212-8 Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas
2021*6-11 North Carolina St., Stanford
2020No Tournament
20199-12 Michigan, Florida St., Auburn
20188-14 Mississippi St., Washington
20173-15 CS Fullerton
201613-7 Coastal Carolina, TCU, Arizona, UC Santa Barbara, Oklahoma St.
20154-15 CS Fullerton
20147-13 UC Irvine, Ole Miss
201310-8 UCLA, Mississippi St., Indiana, Louisville
20126-13 Stony Brook, Kent St., Arkansas
Overall78-116 29 of 79 road teams advanced to CWS
* — COVID-19 restrictions meant not every Super Regional was held at a home site of one of the participants.

TCU has better odds than Texas to win the College World Series, according to DraftKings Sportsbook at +1500, good for ninth best among the teams remaining. The Longhorns are 11th at +2000, but if you’d like to place a bet on one of the Texas schools, or any other, you’ll need to drive to a neighboring state that has sports betting instead of being able to use a Texas betting app.

The Horned Frogs are coming in hot after blowing out everyone at the Fayetteville Regional, including No. 3 national seed Arkansas. TCU opened with a 12-4 win over Arizona and then took out the Razorbacks 20-5 and 12-4 to sweep the regional. 

It got a little lucky getting to host the Sycamores because the Indiana Special Olympics were already planned for this weekend in Terre Haute. Indiana State also swept through its regional, beating Wright State 6-5 and then posted back-to-back wins over Iowa, 7-4 and 11-8.

Texas was staring down a possible matchup with Texas A&M after the Aggies won the first two games of the Stanford Regional. That would have forced the NCAA to choose between bids by Austin and College Station for the Super Regional site. However, after the Aggies beat the Cardinal 8-5 in the first game, they fell 13-5 and 7-1 with chances to set up the Texas showdown. 

Stanford had to hold on to beat Cal State Fullerton 6-5 to stay alive in its own regional and set up the championship games with the Aggies. Stanford sits between TCU and Texas with the 10th best odds to win the CWS at +1600. 

NCAA Championship Odds

Team Odds
Wake Forest+380
Virginia+600
LSU+650
Florida+700
Tennessee+900
South Carolina+1200
Kentucky+1200
TCU+1500
Oregon+1500
Stanford+1600
Texas+2000
Duke+2500
Southern Miss+3500
Indiana State+3500
Oral Roberts+4000
Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook. Expect there to be a DraftKings Sportsbook Texas when wagering becomes legal in the state.
There are no odds for Alabama, which is facing Wake Forest.

TCU and Indiana State start Game 1 at 4 p.m. Friday, with Game 2 on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both games are set for ESPNU. If necessary, Game 3 would be Sunday.

Game 1 between Texas and Stanford will be Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. Game 2 will be Sunday and Game 3, if necessary, would be Monday. The times and TV listings for Games 2 and 3 are still to be determined.

The College World Series will be held in Omaha, Neb., from June 16 to June 26 if Game 3 is necessary in the championship finals.

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Author

Douglas Pils

Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He most recently ran the Student Media Department at Texas A&M for eight years.

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