Thursday night, the Virginia Cavaliers continued the 2011 College World Series' most-important trend: the team closest to Atlanta has won every game but one. The No. 1 seed Cavs downed America's sweetheart, the California Golden Bears, 8-1, setting up a sure-thing showdown between southern teams in the championship series round.
The Hoos will advance to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday night -- UVa will need to beat the defending champs twice in order to advance, while USC only has to win once. Same deal for the Vanderbilt Commodores and Florida Gators in the early game, with Florida having the advantage.
The 2011 CWS' final round will be the first to feature only ACC or SEC teams since 1999's FSU-Miami matchup and could be the first to match a SEC team with a ACC team since LSU-Miami in 1996. The last all-SEC championship series? LSU-Alabama in 1997. Like everybody doesn't know that.
The remaining 2011 CWS schedule (all times pm ET):
Bracket 1:
Vanderbilt def. UNC, 5-1
Florida vs. Vanderbilt, Fri. at 2, ESPN (rematch Sat. at 2 on ESPN if Florida loses)
Bracket 2:
Virginia def. Cal, 8-1
South Carolina vs. Virginia, Fri. at 7, ESPN (rematch Sat. at 7 on ESPN2 if USC loses)
Championship Series:
Game 1, Mon. at 8, ESPN
Game 2, Tues. at 8, ESPN
Game 3 (if necessary), Wed. at 8, ESPN
Check here for complete 2011 CWS scores and schedules, and here for NCAA baseball news and stories. For more SEC sports, join Team Speed Kills.