OMAHA, Nebraska — The popularity of college baseball is a reliable source of dismay among fans and observers of the sport. The reality is that, while college baseball has risen above the niche status of not so long ago, it’s not close to as lucrative or sought-after as football or basketball, the two flagship men’s sports at the collegiate level.
In a vacuum, this wouldn’t be especially notable, but the relatively laggard standing of college baseball is in contrast to the strong and steady draw of Major League Baseball. While the National Football League is in its own stratosphere, MLB has claim to being the No. 2 team sport in the United States in terms of total revenues (and occasional claim on that same spot when it comes to favored status among the American populace). While the popularity of college football and college basketball roughly tracks that of the professional variants, that’s not the case with baseball.
There are a number of possible reasons for this. One that stands out is the strongly regional nature of college baseball. Because the season begins in February, teams in northern climes almost uniformly play the early weeks on the road. By the time outdoor temps can be characterized as “baseball-worthy,” schools in, say, the Big Ten are close to emptying their campuses for summer break. This is much less of an issue in the south, but it no doubt dampens the popularity of college baseball outside the SEC and certain corners of the Big 12 and ACC.
That said, things are trending in a more positive direction. ESPN has invested in more frequent regular-season telecasts of college baseball, and a number of name programs have invested in upgraded facilities in recent years. Also, the emergence of NIL (name, image and likeness) revenue streams for players could help college baseball better cope with the reality that Division I teams get a measly 11.7 scholarships with which to fill out their entire rosters.
All of that brings us to the 2022 Men’s College World Series in Omaha and our forthcoming journey into the anecdotal. The best-of-three Men’s CWS final between Ole Miss and Oklahoma began with Game 1 on Saturday, a 10-3 Ole Miss win that puts them within one win of the first national championship in program history. The series is a match-up of two pronounced football schools, which isn’t all that unusual in Omaha. Ole Miss is a denizen of the mighty SEC West and has re-emerged as a national semi-power under good-for-business coach Lane Kiffin. On the other side, Oklahoma is a college football blue-blood that’s regularly in the mix for one of the sport’s four (for the time being) playoff spots. Also, Sooner enthusiasm is brimming anew since erstwhile coach Lincoln Riley’s stunning departure for Southern Cal.
So with that football foundation squarely acknowledged, CBS Sports posed a simple hypothetical question to fans of both teams, some tailgating in Lot D outside Omaha’s Charles Schwab Field and some waiting in line to enter for Game 1. The question was this: If you can pick only one, do you choose for your team to win the College World Series that you’re attending or win the college football national championship in the fall?
This of course lacks the rigor of scientific polling. The sample size is not pure, in that these are fans who went to the trouble of attending the Men’s College World Series and paying something of a premium for the privilege. That is, they’re probably inclined to like college baseball quite a bit, even if there’s a preternatural pull toward football if you’re an Ole Miss or OU fan. Even so, it says here that there’s illumination in the casual — at least enough to justify these words and this endeavor. Something like that.
“I’m going to take baseball,” said T.J., an OU fan from Arkansas, when asked to pick one national title or the other. “We’ve had some success in football….
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