FSU baseball: 3 reasons to be confident, 3 reasons to worry about Tennessee

No. 8 overall seed FSU baseball will play the No. 1 overall seed Tennessee Volunteers in its opening game in the Men's College World Series on Friday at 7 p.m. The Noles have gone undefeated in postseason play, going through the Tallahassee Regional and Super Regional 5-0. Tennessee won its Regional and had to overcome an elimination game against Evansville in its Super Regional before advancing to face FSU. However, when we look at the two teams, they are near mirror images of one another.

Both are among the top offenses nationally. Tennessee hits for slightly more power, but FSU doesn't strike out quite as often at the plate. Both are sound defensively, with a slight edge to FSU and a small edge to Tennessee pitching-wise. However, I'd venture to say several pitchers who inflated the walks and ERA for FSU will likely not touch the mound in Omaha, and if they do, the game's out of hand one way or another. This is a game FSU can win no doubt, but there's cause for concern as well. Here are three reasons to be confident, and three reasons to worry about Tennessee.