The NCAA baseball Super Regionals begin this weekend

The GIST: Softball season may have crossed home plate, but there’s plenty of diamond-level action left: The 16 baseball squads still standing will face off in eight best-of-three Super Regional series this weekend, with four taking today’s field and four starting tomorrow. On the line? Eight tickets to next week’s Men’s College World Series in Omaha, NE.

• Higher-seeded teams snagged home-field advantage…except No. 14 Indiana State, whose campus is hosting a Special Olympics event this weekend. But it’s not all bad news — when opponent TCU’s fans heard, they stepped up in the most heartwarming way.

The hottest matchups: Oral Roberts and host Oregon’s bout will be especially fierce. Both unseeded squads emerged from regionals undefeated: Oregon tore through Nashville, looking stronger with every game, and Oral Roberts achieved Cinderella status with three close dubs in Stillwater. Neither has survived Supers in decades, so it’ll be magic either way.

• No. 8 Stanford is also in for a dog bull fight against the unseeded Texas Longhorns, who upset No. 9 Miami twice to advance unscathed. Stanford was shaky, then dominant in their regional — only time will tell if they’re ready to mess with Texas.

The underdogs to watch: Two intraconference matchups are on upset alert. Like Stanford, the No. 2 Florida Gators stumbled during regionals before bouncing back with gusto, but if their SEC rival, No. 15 South Carolina, can regain their peak midseason form, they could be a buzzsaw for the Gators once again.

• An all–ACC matchup could also prove chaotic: Untested No. 7 Virginia sailed through Charlottesville with ease, but they’ll face a true challenge in Duke’s blazing-hot squad today.

• But the most dangerous dark horse is unseeded Tennessee. The hot-and-cold Vols were decidedly tough as they raided No. 4 Clemson’s regional, and if they can nab two dubs against Southern Mississippi, they could be a serious title contender.