MINORS: 2012 College World Series—Players and storylines

The College World Series began Friday, with Stony Brook, UCLA, Arizona, Florida State, Kent State, Arkansas, South Carolina and Florida all competing for a national title at Omaha’s beautiful Ameritrade Park, which is in just its second year of existence. The tournament is structured in two four-team, double-elimination brackets (the first four teams listed in one, and the second four in another) with the winners of each bracket playing each other in a best-of-three series ending either June 25 or 26.

As with most years, there will be no shortage of storylines in 2012, including first-time appearances by non-power conference underdogs Kent State and Stony Brook (pictured above). If you’d like a college basketball analogy here, think...

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