Look, I really like Paul Manieri- great guy- but what Brian O'Connor has done at UVA in the post season after the talent he lost after last year is outstanding. LSU underachieved big time in Omaha.

which is, of course, absurd.

they have been the underdog entire CWS.

They didn't have to play a No. 1 seed during the entire NCAAs until their second CWS game versus Florida. It's rare to win a regional without meeting the top seed, but that's what Virginia did at Lake Elsinore. Seeded No. 2, UVa beat 3 seed USC in the opener, while 4 seed SDSU upset 1 seed UCSB. Virginia then beat SDSU while USC eliminated UCSB, and then beat USC again (14-10 in 11 innings) to win the regional. The Lake Elsinore winner played the Los Angeles winner, which was expected to be national 1 seed UCLA, but instead turned out to be 3 seed Maryland. UVa swept the Terps to make the CWS. There they beat another 2 seed, Arkansas, before finally facing a 1 seed in Florida, who they beat 2 out of 3 to make the finals.

After crushing Georgia Tech to reach the pool round, Virginia was walloped in 3 straight games, including 8-2 by ND. But they're 8-1 in the NCAAs.

And Virginia apparently made very good use of that time. Florida went 8-2 in the NCAAs, with their wins coming by a combined 88-22 (including 4-0 vs. FSU and Miami by a combined 49-14), but Virginia found a way to beat them twice. I'd like to see the Cavs win it all this week.