College Baseball Regionals 2014: Everything you need to know

With the month of May coming to an end, that means that it’s time to eventually crown a new national champion in Division I College Baseball. That road to Omaha begins on Friday as the Regional portion of the 2014 College World Series will get underway at each of the 16 on-campus sites.

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Because not many are familiar each year with the format of the tournament as college baseball doesn’t get nearly the mainstream attention as its football and basketball counterparts do, here’s a very brief rundown of how crowning the champion will go down.

This past Monday, the field was announced as well as the 16 schools that will host a regional on their campus. For example, the Oregon State Beavers were named the no. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Therefore, they will get to play some home games at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, along with UNLV, North Dakota State and UC Irvine.

Both the Regional round this weekend and the upcoming Super Regional round are played under double elimination rules. Here’s a very simple look at the format, using the Corvallis Regional as an example:

"Friday, May 30Game 1, 5 p.m. on ESPN3: No. 3 UC Irvine (35-22) vs. No. 2 UNLV (35-23)Game 2, 11 p.m. on ESPNU: No. 1 *Oregon State (42-12) vs. No. 4 North Dakota State (25-24)Saturday, May 31Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSunday, June 1Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6: Game 5 winner vs. Game 4 winnerMonday, June 2Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser (if necessary)"

Again, very simple, but there are more people out there that need to be reminded of the format every year than you might think.

Following this round, it will then be on to the Super Regionals for the top two teams from the opening round. That takes the field down to 16, and then after some more double-elimination action, it’s off to Omaha for eight talented teams, whomever they may be, for a shot at the ultimate prize in the sport.

So now that you have a better understanding of the format, here’s a look at the entire field of teams that will be beginning this journey on Friday.

To view the entire 64-team field for this year’s event, you can simply click here.

And for an even better look at the teams in each region, you can check out this amazing uniform bracket that, brought to you by @AUPPL.

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But now, folks, it’s time to settle in and let the Road to Omaha in 2014 officially begin.

Who do you think will walk away with the national championship when all is said and done this year? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments section below.