After two fulfilling games of the Championship Series, it all comes down to a final game, Game 3. The NCAA College World Series champion will be decided tonight, which means the Beavers only have a few hours left as defending National Champions. The Beavers will hand over their "green jacket" to either the Fresno State Bulldogs or the Georgia Bulldogs tonight:
Here's why both teams are desirable recipients of the trophy:
Fresno State
- Everyone always wants the underdogs to win. It's the way Oregon State got to the national scene. Fresno has a great story, winning their regional as a #4 seed, much the same way Oregon State won their regional last year as a #3 seed.
- They're from the west coast. Other east coast and southern powers like Miami, North Carolina, Rice, and LSU couldn't get to the finals. But Fresno persevered. We're all tired about hearing about the east coast when the west coast is just as talented.
Georgia
- We beat 'em. The Beavers took 2 out of 3 from these Bulldogs in the Pape Grand Slam at PGE Park at the beginning of the season. If you can't be the National Champions, it would at least feel good to say that we beat the National Champions. Twenty years from now the story might be, "Hey, we didn't get into the postseason in '08, but we beat the eventual National Champions".
- If we get Georgia on the schedule, it makes the game a lot more interesting. I'm sure we could just as easily pick a fight with Fresno State and get them on the schedule, but it feels like we've started a good relationship with David Perno and the Georgia Bulldogs. To me, a game between the '06 and '07 National Champs and the '08 National Champs would be intriguing.
- They're a classy group of guys. They're doing things the right way, and the same way that our coaching staff would go about things.
If you've got other reasons, send them into the comment thread below and I'll add them to the list.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--