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Where and How to Bet on Men’s College World Series
The College Baseball World Series (CWS) is an annual sporting event in the United States, held every summer after the conclusion of the NCAA baseball tournament, that determines the champion of the college baseball season.
While the MLB season is ongoing, the CWS will offer bettors the opportunity to wager on similar lines, props, and other options – and many bettors find their way to the College World Series every year.
Men’s College World Series Overview
Here are the eight teams that survived the tournament to advance to the 2023 College World Series and their odds of lifting the trophy:
- Wake Forest (+240)
- LSU (+380)
- Florida (+380)
- Virginia (+600)
- Tennessee (+800)
- TCU (+850)
- Stanford (+1500)
- Oral Roberts (+3000)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
Wake Forest is the consensus favorite by a notable margin, but LSU and Florida stand above the rest of the pack as favored alternatives.
Virginia, Tennessee, and TCU are neck-and-neck in the middle of the pack. Stanford is the consensus seventh team; Oral Roberts – with odds about twice as long as those being given to Stanford – are a distant eighth.
Best Betting Sites for the Men’s College World Series
Several prominent American online sportsbooks offer odds on the College World Series, including DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, and Unibet.
Odds on the various lines and props available for the CWS vary between sportsbooks, making it critical for bettors to scout their options to find the best odds available for the bets they want to make.
Types of Bets Available on Men’s College World Series
Betting on the CWS is relatively straightforward – most of the options available are easy to recognize for seasoned baseball bettors.
When considering bets on the College World Series, bettors have the option to wager on individual games or the event as a whole.
Here’s a rundown of some of the bets you’ll be able to make on the College World Series:
Futures
Betting on College World Series futures starts significantly before teams are decided – some sportsbooks offer odds on the CWS champion before the NCAA baseball season even begins. The betting heats up substantially, however, once the field of eight teams is narrowed down. Futures betting is popular across all sports, but betting on playoff champions is especially so. For most bettors, the odds on CWS futures will require little explanation.
Moneyline
Moneyline bets are popular in baseball, but are also popular in – and easily recognizable from – other sports that are typically bet on. All that’s involved is picking a team to win a game or series. Odds are different for each team in each game, based on a team’s perceived probability of winning.
If a team is a moneyline favorite at -150, a $150 bet on them would return a $100 profit. If a team is a +150 moneyline underdog, then a $100 bet on them would return a $150 profit.
Disclaimer
Totals
Also known as over/under bets, totals bets are wagers made on the total number of runs scored in a baseball game. Which team scores the runs isn’t relevant to the bet; if the total is set at 4.5 and the game ends 3-2, for example, a bet on the over wins regardless of which team won the game.
It’s a popular type of bet across several sports, but can be a hard line to predict in baseball with how low-scoring games can be.
Run Line
In baseball, the type of bet usually known as a spread – betting on whether the favorite team will win by a certain margin – is called a run line bet. Most baseball games will see the run line set at 1.5; the College World Series isn’t an exception.
If the run line is set at -1.5, the favored team has to win by two runs or more in order to cover the line and win the bet. For the underdog, covering the spread requires either winning outright or losing the game by a single run.
For bettors that are exceptionally confident in their team winning a game, betting on the run line can offer a higher payout than merely betting on the moneyline.
Props
Props on the College World Series can be divided into three categories: bets on player stats, bets on team stats, and bets on events within the game as a whole. Prop bets are distinct from other types of bets in that, by and large, they aren’t concerned with the outcome in terms of who wins a game or how many runs are scored.
Not all legal betting states allow player props on college sports so depending on where you live these odds may be unavailable.
Betting Guide for Men’s College World Series
Below is a brief rundown of each team participating in the 2023 College World Series – how they got here, what the oddsmakers think of them, and what’s worth knowing before making bets on them.
Wake Forest
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons entered the 2023 NCAA baseball season as a favorite team to win it all, proceeded to finish the regular season with a dominant 52-10 record, and claimed the top overall seed in the NCAA men’s baseball tournament before reaching the CWS.
They boast a dominant pitching rotation – Rhett Lowder, Josh Hartle, and Sean Sullivan have each thrown over 100 strikeouts to this point in the season. Brock Wilken, Nick Kurtz, and Justin Johnson have combined to hit 70 home runs and 225 RBIs this season.
If there’s one reason not to bet on Wake Forest despite their resume, it’s their seed. The NCAA baseball tournament has issued seeds for the top eight teams since 1999 – which is also the last time a team that earned the top overall seed went on to win the CWS.
LSU
The Tigers of LSU entered the season as a favorite, boast six CWS titles in their school’s history, and have been to the final game of the College World Series as recently as 2017. Their top pitcher, Paul Skenes, boasts a .177 ERA on the season and has amassed 188 strikeouts against only 21 earned runs in 107.0 innings pitched.
Dylan Crews and Tommy White stand out as hitters on a lineup with eight batters at a or above a .900 OPS, but the team’s lack of established pitching options behind Skenes looms as a major weakness.
LSU entered the tournament as a 5 seed. Fourteen teams have proceeded from the 5 seed to appear in the CWS; two ultimately went home with the title.
Florida
The Gators cleared the regular season with a 50-15 record on the strength of a batting lineup that features several impressive hitters.
Jac Caglianone led the team with 31 home runs and 84 RBIs while also holding opponents to a 1.84 batting average on the mound. He’s one of six batters on the Gators to post an OPS above .900; Wyatt Langford led the team with a 1.267 OPS, and got on base a team-high 49.8 percent of his batting appearances.
Florida entered the tournament as a 2 seed; since 1999, 2 seeds have more CWS appearances (17) and titles (3) than any other seed. While the Gators have that going for them, their pitching numbers are significantly less impressive than those boasted by Wake Forest and LSU. Their batting numbers are competitive with those two teams, but not considerably better.
Virginia
The Cavaliers entered the tournament as a 7 seed and proceeded to rack up 26 runs against Duke in their final two games before advancing to the CWS. Kyle Teel leads the team with a .418 batting average; Jake Gelof, who boasts the sixth-highest BA on the team at .331, leads the unit with 23 home runs at 89 RBIs.
It’s an offense that helped boost the team to a 50-13 regular season record, alongside four pitchers with ERAs of 3.88 or better over at least 65 innings pitched.
2023 marks the second College World Series appearance by UVA in the last three years, and the twelfth appearance in the CWS by a 7 seed in the tournament. Still, they’ll be the first 7 seed to win the CWS if they do so, and their starting pitching – while deep – isn’t nearly as impressive at the top end as that of Wake Forest or LSU.
Disclaimer
Tennessee
The Volunteers went 43-20 over the course of the regular season before entering the tournament outside the top 16 teams.
Their offense has hit 123 home runs this season – the third-highest mark in the CWS behind Wake Forest and LSU. Jared Dickey leads the team with a .325 batting average and 51 RBIs, but his 12 home runs are only the fifth-highest total on the Vols’ starting lineup.
In terms of pitching, Tennessee offers nothing special. Only two of their four starting pitchers have ERAs below 4.50. Andrew Lindsey led the team with a 2.79 regular season ERA, but only made six starts – over which the team only posted a 3-3 record.
TCU
After posting a 42-22 regular season record and entering the tournament without a seed, TCU went on to win 11 straight games to roll into the CWS field. They’re a surprise contender this year, but the Horned Frogs are making their sixth CWS appearance after last qualifying in 2017; they aren’t an unknown baseball program.
Five batters for TCU posted a .314 batting average or better, including Brayden Taylor – who led the team with 23 home runs and 69 RBIs. Cole Fontenelle edges out Taylor for the team-high 1.099 OPS, and boasts 13 home runs and 52 RBIs of his own.
The pitching situation is less clear, however; only Kole Klecker and Sam Stoutenborough have pitched over 60 innings for the Horned Frogs. Stoutenborough has started in fewer than half of his appearances as a pitcher; Klecker has sandwiched two dismal outings with three incredible ones in his last five starts.
Stanford
Stanford didn’t make getting to the College World Series easy on themselves, but their batting numbers stand out even among the CWS field.
Seven players on the Cardinal have batting averages of .312 or more in at least 200 plate appearances. Drew Bowser – the only regular starting batter with below a .300 BA – ranks sixth on the team in home runs and RBIs with 14 and 48, respectively. Alberto Rios leads the Cardinal offense with 18 home runs, 71 RBIs, and a 1.206 OPS.
On the pitching side, Stanford is led by Quinn Mathews – who boasts the highest number of innings pitched of any player in the CWS with 120. Mathews pitched all nine innings in his last game against Texas, which Stanford won 8-3 with Mathews posting a season-high 16 strikeouts.
While impressive, Mathews threw a staggering 156 pitches in the outing; Stanford has drawn criticism for their overreliance on him. Of their 3 other pitchers with 60 innings pitched, the best ERA is 4.76 – significantly worse than Mathews’ 3.60 on the season.
Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles won 21 consecutive games before falling once in their 2-1 series victory over Oregon that sent them to the CWS. Despite that and their 51-12 record through the regular season overall, Oral Roberts has drawn an understandable level of scrutiny for the quality of their schedule.
Their record includes three separate victories over ranked Oklahoma State teams – including two on the road – but is otherwise lacking in premier competition.
Regardless, Oral Roberts making their first CWS appearance since 1978 isn’t an accident. The team has three clear starting pitchers in Brooks Fowler, Jakob Hall, and Harley Gollert, each with at least 74 strikeouts and allowing a batting average no higher than a .253 batting average.
Jonah Cox and Matt Hogan lead the team’s batting lineup with 1.148 and 1.155 OPS marks, and only four other hitters in the CWS have accounted for more total bases than Cox’ 175.
Betting Strategies
There’s no sure way to make winning bets on the College World series, but below are some ways that bettors can help themselves make informed bets on the event:
- Check Pitching Matchups – There’s few greater day-to-day variables in a baseball team’s performance than their pitching. Take note of who’s starting for each team in a given game, how well they’ve been performing, and how long they’ve typically stayed in games. Some teams in the CWS rely heavily on certain starting pitchers; other teams will make frequent changes on the mound.
- Evaluate Offenses – Take note of a team’s offensive capabilities, considering metrics such as team batting average and on-base percentage, as well as how they hit with runners in scoring position. A key variable in batting performance is pitching – some batters perform significantly better against certain pitching styles than others.
- Account for Weather – Wind direction and speed can influence the outcome of a baseball game significantly. Bettors should be aware if a game is being played in especially windy conditions.
Set Limits, Don’t Chase Losses – Making bets to cover losses after they happen is a quick, easy way to compound losses. It’s important for bettors to set limits and decide on a betting strategy before games begin to avoid making impulsive and ill-advised bets as the games unfold.
Predictions
This year’s CWS looks to be a toss-up with several viable contenders. Consider backing the hot bats of the LSU Tigers, who look poised to bash their way to a title.
