In the words of the great Tony Soprano, "Quite frankly, I'm depressed and ashamed." That sums up the result of the Ole Miss-UNC game on Friday. The Rebs bullpen took a big dump all over my sizzling futures portfolio by imploding late in the game.
It's sickening to be honest. I guess if there's a bright side, we have an elite matchup for the Saturday night showdown with the preseason pick, Texas and Georgia.
There's a real feel the winner of this game could go on to win the whole thing.
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Texas Longhorns (-130) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (+100) | Total: 11 (at DraftKings)
This game features two SEC teams that have not seen each other in 2026 -- until now. It is one of the sexiest and alluring matchups in the entire NCAA. Extra crispy.
It's a real tough handicap, so let's try and go brick by brick.
Starting for the Horns is no surprise, Game of Thrones faithful, Big Daddy Dylan Volantis. Despite a "down" start against Oregon in the Super Regionals last week, "The Wizard of" Volantis still sliced the Duckies for a 5.1 IP, 2 ER, and a 10-piece punchy performance. Overall, DV is pitching to a stellar 2.03 ERA and 126:27 K/BB ratio across 88.2 frames. He's been one of the top arms for the entire season, but turned it up a notch after getting promoted to the Friday night role. Volantis, expected to be a top-10 pick in 2027, is the key for Texas and their title run hopes.
What makes this matchup so titillating is not just watching Volantis pitch, but who he is facing. The wagon that is the Georgia Bulldogs, who can seemingly pluck Tom, Dick, or Harry off the street and have them hit 20 homers, is a nightmare. So, where do we start? Maybe it's the fact they have the presumed Golden Spikes winner in a guy they call 'The Rhino' aka Daniel Jackson (.396 avg, 1.329 OPS, 31 HR, 26 SB). Or is it the entire unit that's combined for a nation-leading 174 Jimmy Jacks along with a .326 average? Maybe it's the six different players with double-digit taters or seven that have an OPS of 1.000 or better.
Either way it's going to be an all-time instant classic thriller. Volantis super power is the electric 10-5 curve ball, combined with a sharp cutter coming out of a Chris Sale-like 6-foot-6 lanky lefty frame. It's drawn a lot of swings and misses over the last two years. From an actual pitchability standpoint, Volantis is always consistent. Since the calendar turned April, his worst start was at Tennessee on 5.8 where he allowed three runs over five frames. No other start has he allowed over two runs.
The UGA offense is a different beast, especially if the projected wind holds up where it's supposed to blow out to right field with 32 MPH gusts. It's an offense that is so deep and talented, there's just no breaks. However, if the Texas ace is sharp and on his game, the spin rates, deception, and command could put them back on their heels and limit the damage.
UGA looks like it's going with Joey Volchko, the high-voltage Stanford transfer. While the stuff is great with a healthy amount of swing and miss (104 K in 86.1 IP), the pitch ability and consistency is not. This is a guy that is stuff over command. That's why he's got a 4.07 ERA and 45 free passes. When he's on, he's tough to hit, but we've seen a lot of outings this year he's gotten rocked. Five times this season, he's given up at least four earned runs and gone less than six innings. Even against Miss State in last week's Supers, he got banged up.
The Texas offense isn't as deep or prolific as the Dawgs, but it's still pretty good. The two dynamo transfers in Aiden Robbins (.342 avg, 1.155 OPS, 24 HR) and Carson Tinney (.333 avg, 1.194 OPS, 22 HR) have led the charge with star freshman Anthony Pack (.359 avg, 1.082 OPS, 11 HR, 20 SB) playing a pivotal role. As a team they've hit 103 homers and .298 with 111 steals. A lot of their other guys like Temo Becerra, Ethan Mendoza, Casey Borba, and Adrian Rodriguez have all heated up down the stretch.
Ultimately, this game may determine the fate of the College World Series. Texas has a slight edge because of the pitching advantage. In my opinion, Texas has a bigger gap in the pitching advantage than Georgia does in the box. I'm expecting it to be close, but I think Volantis does enough to keep his team in the game and that's the difference.
Don't forget, Texas was the team we rode in with. Let's go Hook'Em!
