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2013 Super-Regionals Get Underway Tonight

The NCAA super-regionals begin tonight. At the bottom of this write-up is a chart of the match-ups, on which I will list the winners of each game.

The SEC is guaranteed a team in the Women's College World Series (the winner of the Alabama vs. Tennessee super-regional), but it is also guaranteed that one of these perennial powers will not be in the WCWS. In fact, the SEC potentially could send five teams to the World Series (the Bama-Tennessee winner, plus Texas A&M, Florida, Kentucky, and Missouri), although some pretty dramatic upsets would have to occur for all these teams to advance.

This year is the first time since the introduction of the super-regional format in 2005 that neither UCLA nor Arizona has made it to this round. The Pac 12 still has a major presence with Oregon, Arizona State, and Washington still alive.

The Big 12 appears positioned to send two to the WCWS, with No. 1 seed Oklahoma facing former conference foe Texas A&M and No. 4 Texas hosting unseeded Florida State.

The switch to the Big 10 appears to have done Nebraska good or maybe it's just coincidence. Still, the Huskers are making their first-ever super-regional appearance. Likewise, the University of Alabama-Birmingham (from Conference USA).

Also from the Big 10, No. 8 seed Michigan takes on unseeded Louisiana-Lafayette. Wolverine frosh Sierra Romero, a slugging shortstop, has been making headlines all season.

USA Today offers a detailed preview of each series, whereas ESPN.com's Graham Hays looks at the Top 5 Questions heading into the supers.

Here's my chart. Team seeds, if applicable, are in parentheses; bold indicates the clinching of a series; and links within the chart are to game articles. Here's a link to the official NCAA bracket, which provides starting times and viewing information.

Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Texas A&M (16) at Oklahoma (1)*+ Oklahoma Oklahoma ---
Alabama-Birmingham at Florida (2)*** Florida Florida ---
Nebraska (14) at Oregon (3)*** Nebraska Oregon Nebraska
Florida State at Texas (4)**+ Texas Texas ---
Kentucky (12) at Arizona State (5)*** ASU ASU ---
Washington (11) at Missouri (6)* Washington Washington ---
Alabama (10) at Tennessee (7)** Tennessee Tennessee ---
Louisiana-Lafayette at Michigan (8)** Michigan ULL Michigan
*Game 1 Thursday, Games 2 and (if necessary) 3 on Friday.
**Game 1 Friday, Games 2 and (if necessary) 3 on Saturday.
***Game 1 Saturday, Games 2 and (if necessary) 3 on Sunday.
+Delayed one day due to rain-out.

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