College World Series 2011: South Carolina, Florida on Verge of Finals Appearances

An all-SEC final series in Omaha is becoming more and more like, with reigning national champion South Carolina and reigning SEC tournament champion (and co-regular season champion) Florida each just one game away from advancing to the three-game title set.

Florida started off the day, wrapping up a 3-1 win that had started Monday and been suspended, only to have the teams come back and play to the same conclusion. The Gators will now wait for the winner of a Vanderbilt-UNC elimination game scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. (The weather has obviously been uncooperate in Omaha this week, so that's always subject to change.)

South Carolina, meanwhile, jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead against Virginia -- the favorite on the Gamecocks' side of the bracket -- and never really looked back in an easy 7-1 win. Even without the offensive explosion, South Carolina would have had a chance to win the same way it's won a lot of its games this year -- with great pitching and solid defense. Of course, the three Virginia errors certainly didn't hurt the Gamecocks when it came to scoring the winning runs.

The Gamecocks will eventually face the winner of an elimination game between Virginia and Cal set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The Golden Bears have become something of a darling for ESPN -- not without reason; this is a team that was about to close its baseball program -- and Virginia is still a tough team.

Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt all still face a tough road to get to the finals. There are no easy routes to victory in Omaha. But a win on Wednesday by Vanderbilt would guarantee at least one SEC representative in the championship series, and a win after that by South Carolina would ensure the baseball trophy remains in the league, with only the question of where it would reside to be decided.