2022 Men’s College World Series roundtable

The Men’s College World Series is set, but the team everyone was expecting to see in Omaha didn’t make the trip.

Tennessee, the undisputed No. 1 team in the country, was upset by Notre Dame in the super regionals at Knoxville, leaving a wide-open field to battle for the national championship.

The eight teams are split into two four-team, double elimination brackets, with the winners of each bracket facing off in the best-of-three finals scheduled to begin June 25. All games will air on either ESPN or ESPN2 and are available on the ESPN App.

Play in the first bracket begins Friday with Oklahoma facing No. 5 Texas A&M (ESPN, 2 ET) in the opener, and Notre Dame taking on No. 9 Texas (ESPN, 7 ET) in the nightcap.

In the other bracket Saturday, Arkansas plays No. 2 Stanford (ESPN, 2 ET) and Ole Miss meets No. 14 Auburn (ESPN2, 7 ET).

To get you ready for all the action, we asked our college baseball experts Ryan McGee, Mike Rooney, Chris Burke and Kiley McDaniel to break down the contenders, top storylines and make their picks for the last two teams standing.

MORE: Full schedule | Best of supers | Saluting wild regionals

Before we dig in on the Omaha field, what is your biggest takeaway on No. 1 Tennessee losing in the super regionals?

Ryan McGee: You mean, other than my college friends and in-laws — heck, my wife! — calling and yelling at me because they’ve run out of people to yell at? Honestly, this is just how it is for the No. 1 national seed. The looks on the faces of the Vols were the same stunned expression that Arkansas had one year ago and UCLA had in 2019. That’s three in a row the top team has lost in the supers, and the No. 1 seed hasn’t won the CWS since Miami in 1999! Maybe Tennessee can take consolation knowing they are in great company. Oh, who am I kidding?

Mike Rooney: This was an enormous upset with two caveats: 1) This is the third year in a row that the No. 1 overall seed has been upset in the supers. 2) Notre Dame has been one of the best teams in the…