Wyatt Langford: Facing an SEC team for national championship 'excites me a lot'

It’ll be an all-SEC national championship this weekend at the College World Series. LSU and Florida kick off a best-of-three series on Saturday with a title on the line — and Wyatt Langford is ready.

The Gators punched their ticket to the championship series with a victory over TCU, surviving the first round of the CWS without a loss. They then had to wait to find out whether they’d face LSU or Wake Forest, and the Tigers defeated the Demon Deacons in thrilling fashion Thursday night to set up the matchup with Florida.

As two SEC teams play for the trophy, Langford said it speaks to the strength of the conference and where it stands in the college baseball landscape. That’s why it’s going to be such a fun matchup.

“It excites me a lot,” Langford said. “Being a part of the SEC, we’re the best conference in baseball. And I believe that all the way. So just to match up with them kind of makes sense for all the fans out there and everyone that knows baseball. So we’re all excited to play.”

This weekend’s series will be the first between LSU and Florida this year. That means the Gators will get their first look at the Tigers’ star power, headlined by Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews. Both players are in conversation to be the No. 1 pick in next month’s MLB Amateur Draft and helped LSU to a finals appearance.

But Kevin O’Sullivan thinks Florida has the pieces to counter the Tigers’ stars. After all, the Gators not only have Langford, but also Jac Caglianone, who set the program’s home run record amid an impressive sophomore season. Add in big arms in Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep, and O’Sullivan has plenty of reasons to be confident.

“I think initially they were identified by their offense and rightfully so,” O’Sullivan said. “They got some star power in their lineup. I think our team was the same way. Obviously they had Skenes who has had arguably the best season in the history of college baseball. But yet we’ve got Sproat who came back to school and we have Hurston, of course, and Jac. So I think the biggest similarity that I see just from the outside looking in is the improvement with their bullpen over the course of the year, and I think the same could be said about us as well.”

Game 1 of the College World Series Finals is Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, and Game 2 will follow on Sunday. Game 3 will await on Monday, if necessary.