The 2023 college baseball regular season is in the books. Over Memorial Day weekend, the majority of conference tournaments play out, with spots in the NCAA Tournament up for grabs. After 14 weeks of play – and before the tournament field is announced – how do College World Series odds stack up?
Preseason favorites like LSU (+650) and Tennessee (+1400) still headline odds tables. However, ACC juggernaut Wake Forest (+500) tops at some books and surprise teams like South Carolina (+1600) and Kentucky (+5000) make appearances, as well. Let’s dive into the landscape of College World Series odds.
The NCAA Tournament begins Friday, June 2. The College World Series begins Friday, June 16, in Omaha, Nebraska.
College World Series Odds: The Favorites
Find teams with odds shorter than 30-1 below. Click on odds anywhere in the table to place a bet. Scroll to the bottom of the article for a more comprehensive look at CWS odds.
LSU | Bet now +400 | Bet now +650 |
Wake Forest | Bet now +500 | Bet now +410 |
Arkansas | Bet now +900 | Bet now +1000 |
Florida | Bet now +1100 | Bet now +1300 |
Tennessee | Bet now +1400 | Bet now +1300 |
South Carolina | Bet now +1600 | Bet now +1500 |
Stanford | Bet now +1800 | Bet now +2000 |
Vanderbilt | Bet now +1800 | Bet now +2000 |
Virginia | Bet now +2500 | Bet now +2200 |
A Two-Man Race?
Depending on where you lean, value is to be had on some of these teams. LSU – the national frontrunner who dropped three of six games down the stretch – can be found as long as +650 at FanDuel Sportsbook (around +400 at other books). Conversely, DraftKings Sportsbook posts Wake Forest at +500 and still favors LSU over them.
In the college baseball postseason, pitching reigns king. LSU and Wake Forest roster the best and deepest pitching corps in the nation, setting them up nicely for a tournament run. However, as we’ve seen in the recent past, presumed favorites don’t always make it to Omaha; last season, Notre Dame took down No. 1 Tennessee in a shocking Super Regional result.
Ace Paul Skenes (10-1, 1.77 ERA) headlines the Tigers’ rotation. The transfer junior is almost an automatic win for LSU thanks to unparalleled command and a ridiculous 164 strikeouts in just 86.2 innings pitched. However, the concern with the Tigers comes in their bullpen, of which they haven’t found a strong rotation for yet. Offensively, LSU boasts two of the nation’s best hitters in Dylan Crews (.423 average) and Tommy White (20 home runs).
Wake Forest rivals LSU with their starting pitching, but also boasts a deeper rotation. Rhett Lowder (12-0, 1.60) and Josh Hartle (9-1, 2.01) might stand as the nation’s best one-two punch, both notching over 100 strikeouts on the season. Closer Camden Minacci (3.04) stands second nationally with 13 saves. The Demon Deacons also roster a pair of batters with 20 homers, third baseman Brock Wilken and first baseman Nick Kurtz.
Other Contenders
You can simply bucket a majority of the other contending teams as “Other SEC.” Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky all clock in at or under 30-1. The remaining 30 other conferences nationally combine for four teams priced under 30-1.
Of the group, Florida and Vanderbilt have the most experience in the postseason while Arkansas arguably has the most frequent recent success. The Razorbacks take a balanced approach, but lean more defensively. This season, they have series victories over South Carolina and Tennessee. However, they were peppered by LSU in March and were swept by Georgia in April.
Kentucky – who was picked to finish sixth in the SEC East this preseason – rates out better than any team in the nation, per College Baseball Nation’s RPI+ metric. The Wildcats (+5000) might prove to be worth a CWS flier, although their value peaked earlier in the year around 200-1.
RPI+ favors Arkansas over the other teams while LSU comes in fourth. Clemson (+4000) also checks in much higher than both their top 25 ranking and CWS futures might suggest (eighth). The Tigers of the ACC finished the regular season winners of 12 in a row including three quality sweeps over Louisville, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina.
How The College Baseball Postseason Works
Like its basketball counterpart, the NCAA Tournament is a field of 64. The top 16 teams, as determined by a selection committee, host four-team Regionals, where the participants play a double-elimination, round robin-style tournament. The winner of each Regional advances to the Super Regional round, where they play a three-game series with other Regional victors. Like a standard bracket, the Region 1 winner plays the Region 16 winner, the Region 2 winner plays the Region 15 winner, and so on.
Eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Those eight teams are broken up into two brackets, each of which play a double-elimination, round robin-style tournament. The two winners then advance to the College World Series final, a best-of-three championship round.
The initial field of 64 is comprised of 31 conference champions (by way of auto-bid) and 33 at-large teams. Regional hosts are the top 16 teams, but the rest of the field is categorized by geography and avoiding two teams from the same conference in the same region.
College World Series Odds 2023
Wake Forest | Bet now +400 | Bet now +380 | Bet now +400 |
LSU | Bet now +800 | Bet now +650 | Bet now +800 |
Florida | Bet now +900 | Bet now +950 | Bet now +800 |
Arkansas | Bet now +1000 | Bet now +850 | Bet now +900 |
Vanderbilt | Bet now +1200 | Bet now +1200 | Bet now +1800 |
Virginia | Bet now +1300 | Bet now +2500 | Bet now +1800 |
Stanford | Bet now +1500 | Bet now +2000 | Bet now +1800 |
Tennessee | Bet now +2000 | Bet now +1800 | Bet now +1800 |
South Carolina | Bet now +2000 | Bet now +2000 | Bet now +2500 |
Clemson | Bet now +2500 | Bet now +2500 | Bet now +1400 |
Oklahoma State | Bet now +3000 | Bet now +4300 | Bet now +3000 |
Kentucky | Bet now +3000 | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +3500 |
Miami-FL | Bet now +3500 | Bet now +3600 | Bet now +5000 |
Texas | Bet now +3500 | Bet now +3600 | Bet now +3500 |
Auburn | Bet now +4000 | Bet now +4800 | Bet now +4000 |
Duke | Bet now +4000 | Bet now +5500 | Bet now +5000 |
Oregon State | Bet now +4500 | Bet now +7500 | Bet now +4000 |
Texas A&M | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +3000 |
Coastal Carolina | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +5000 |
East Carolina | Bet now +6000 | Bet now +5000 | Bet now +5000 |
Campbell | Bet now +6000 | Bet now +6000 | Bet now +3500 |
North Carolina | Bet now +6500 | Bet now +9000 | Bet now +6000 |
Dallas Baptist | Bet now +6500 | Bet now +6000 | Bet now +6000 |
Oregon | Bet now +6500 | Bet now +9000 | Bet now +8000 |
Indiana State | Bet now +9000 | Bet now +9500 | Bet now +8000 |
