ESPN: Cards have easiest road to Omaha

From Jeremy Mills' regional roundup:

4. National seed with easiest path to Omaha: No. 7 Louisville

 

With upsets knocking out the top contenders in the Atlantic Sun, Missouri Valley and Southland this season, there were 17 No. 4-seed-caliber teams and only 16 spots to fill. That left one regional with an extremely weak third seed, and the Cardinals were the lucky host. The committee offset this somewhat by sending one of the top No. 2 seeds to Louisville, but the regional looks like a best-of-three series between the top two teams.

The super regional pairing also bodes well for the Cardinals. Florida State was probably one of the last No. 1 seeds selected (otherwise, the Seminoles would be at home). Louisville took two of three regular-season games against Connecticut and would be heavily favored in a home rematch. Oregon's pitching staff might be the toughest challenge from the Norwich Regional.

So U of L has more of a walk to the College World Series than any other seed, and yet...

7. Non-No. 1 seed with best chance to reach Omaha: Vanderbilt

 

This might seem counterintuitive after declaring that Louisville has the easiest path to the College World Series, but it boils down to the same reasoning. The bottom two teams in the Louisville Regional should offer meager resistance to the Cardinals and Commodores. These two teams met once during the regular season, with the Commodores prevailing 11-10 in 17 innings. Whichever team advances from the regional also faces a fair matchup in the super regionals, and the Commodores have a chance to host if either UConn or Oregon advance from Norwich.

It makes sense, you just have to be really smart. Dan McDonnell smart.