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- Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com
- 2-time Sports Emmy winner
- 2010, 2014 NMPA Writer of the Year

OMAHA, Neb. - The finalists for the 79th Men's College World Series were set on a breezy, sunny Wednesday that proved surprisingly mild in temperature.

The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Oklahoma Sooners share minimal common ground in Omaha lore. Combined they hold 25 MCWS appearances, yet they have never met in the event and had never overlapped in Nebraska for baseball until now.

Nevertheless their Wednesday outings bore striking similarities. Both squads built early leads. Both nearly squandered those advantages. Ultimately both defeated their single-loss foes.

The Tar Heels beat local favorite West Virginia 12-7 after opening a 12-1 margin and yielding six runs across the final two innings. The Sooners defeated fellow SEC member Georgia 11-4 by launching five home runs against the nation's leading power-hitting club.

In the end the figures prevailed. Those figures centered on the prized 2-0 MCWS opening.

For newcomers the Men's College World Series pits eight teams in a double-elimination setup across two brackets. Each club strives to secure two victories while rivals on its bracket collect one loss or more. A 2-0 mark supplies a safety cushion of one defeat to spare, though the aim remains advancing to 3-0 without deploying it.

Over the prior three seasons each bracket has delivered an undefeated entrant. Consequently for the third straight year no contests occur on Thursday, a development welcomed by these latest 3-0 clubs.

"That remains the objective. I informed the staff today that I intend to pursue it," remarked Scott Forbes, in his sixth season leading UNC and sixteenth overall on the coaching staff, when discussing the balance between immediate success and conserving arms for a potential rematch.

That approach makes sense. Twenty-nine of the past 35 MCWS champions opened at 2-0. When this year's event concludes with a champion on Sunday or Monday the total will rise to 30 of the past 36.

It is not impossible. Six squads have managed otherwise. The most recent example came when LSU dropped its second game to Wake Forest, then held off Tennessee before topping the Demon Deacons twice to reach the finals in 2023. Yet the Tigers needed to survive one of Omaha's greatest non-title contests and succeeded only with Paul Skenes on the mound.

Thus avoiding reliance on heroics remains preferable.

"Those two days off prove valuable when attainable," Forbes added. "They do not ensure victory, yet with a staff like ours recovery becomes feasible. The day slated for an elimination game against the same opponent offers rest plus a chance to train."

Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson noted, "The key lies in how that period is utilized."

Johnson guided Oklahoma to a 3-0 start in 2022 before falling to Ole Miss in the finals. He also served as an assistant for a Texas squad that opened 3-0 before losing to LSU in the 2009 championship series.

"Under prior schedules that stretched nearly two weeks teams sometimes faced excess downtime," Johnson said. "Players grew restless and drifted from their habits.

"An added day or two allows routines to continue and momentum to persist. Concentration poses no issue for this group."

UNC competed Friday to defeat Ole Miss 6-2, returned Sunday to top West Virginia 5-2, then enjoyed two full rest days before Wednesday while the Mountaineers played an elimination contest Tuesday. Oklahoma defeated Alabama on Saturday and Georgia on Monday, also benefiting from an off day before facing Georgia again Wednesday.

Although West Virginia and Georgia mounted rallies in the Wednesday games both appeared fatigued from their grind while their 2-0 counterparts looked fresh.

Highlight: Oklahoma powers past Georgia, advances to MCWS finals

Forbes reflected on his extensive Omaha tenure with UNC, encompassing nine visits that included nearly every possible MCWS scenario. In 2006 the Tar Heels reached the finals against Oregon State, going 3-0 before a tough loss. The following year they returned to the title series versus the Beavers once more.

"My wife and I discussed our time in Omaha, and she recalls the first visit clearly due to the off days," Forbes noted Wednesday afternoon. "Yet she also remembers 2007, when we fell and it seemed we played daily for the national title."

So coach, does 3-0 hold the edge?

"Observe the grin," he answered with a laugh. "Indeed it does."

His Oklahoma counterpart smiled in agreement before Johnson added, "The next aim is reaching 4-0."