It’s the first weekend of the NCAA baseball tournament

Listen, we know it’s tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn’t easy. It’s OK, though. We’re going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network, as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

Typically, we talk about major league ball in this space, or at least professional ball. Every once in a while, though, college baseball takes center stage, and this is the time of year for that to happen.

The draft is right around the corner, and all of this amateur talent is about to come into the forefront. Before that happens, we will see some of that talent on the big stage for the College World Series. The College World Series in Omaha is one of the most exciting events of the year, and before we can even get to that point, we have to go through the 64-team tournament, which is kicking off this weekend.

If you’re unfamiliar with how all of this works, don’t worry. We got you covered. Just like the more famous NCAA basketball tournament, the top 64 teams in the nation make this competition. For baseball, however, it is separated into 16 four-team regions and they compete in double-elimination mini-tournaments. From there, the 16 winners go into the Super Regionals, where eight teams will advance to the World Series in Omaha. Then there is another double-elimination tournament before two teams face off in a best-of-three finals.

That first round kicked off this weekend in sites all across the country, and while there is still plenty of baseball left to be played, the top story thus far might be Cinderellas like Davidson and Holy Cross, which have a chance to advance into the next round.

In addition to the teams, some of the top talent will be available in the upcoming amateur draft, including Brendan McKay of Louisville and Kyle Wright of Vanderbilt. We usually enjoy professional baseball, but take some time to enjoy the college game for the next few weeks, as its World Series is one of the best events of the year.