Lucas: 2007 A Different Meeting

Over the next 48 hours, you'll hear the 2006 and 2007 matchups between Carolina and Oregon State lumped together. That's a deceiving way to look at the two series, which are actually very different.

As mentioned yesterday, 2006 was magic. Everything was new, and every single day in Omaha was gravy.

But 2007 was about business. The end of the 2006 season had toughened the players who returned in 2007—and there were many—and they wanted to make it back to the College World Series. Oregon State struggled for most of the season and barely scraped into the NCAA Tournament field. The Tar Heels were dominant, earning the right to host both a regional and a super-regional before construction work…