OMAHA – They’ve spent the past 10 days or so warily eyeing each other in hotel elevators and hallways, but starting today, the baseball players from Arizona and South Carolina will really get to know each other.

Housed in the same hotel since the College World Series began, the Wildcats and Gamecocks haven’t played each other yet because they’ve been in opposite brackets in the eight-team event.

But each club won its bracket, and now they’re the only teams left. When the best-of-three championship series starts tonight, two-time defending champ Carolina will be trying to become the first team to win three in a row since 1970-74 when Southern California won five.