The Citadel faces Oklahoma at 5 p.m. in Atlanta Regional

The Citadel opens the Atlanta Regional against Oklahoma at 5 p.m. Friday, putting the citadel into a double-elimination NCAA Tournament bracket with Georgia Tech and Illinois Chicago. The regional begins Friday afternoon, and the winner moves one step closer to the super regionals.

Friday at 5 p.m.

The Citadel enters with a 35-24 record, while Oklahoma arrives at 32-21. Game 2 of the Atlanta Regional is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m., a first-round matchup that gives both teams an immediate chance to move into the winners' side of the bracket.

The Atlanta Regional is one of 16 regionals in the NCAA Tournament, with each field made up of four teams. The top 16 teams host regionals, and the format rewards the first team to stay alive through the double-elimination bracket rather than the team that simply wins once.

Georgia Tech and Illinois Chicago

Georgia Tech and Illinois Chicago fill out the other half of the Atlanta Regional field. That leaves the bracket with a compact four-team path: win early, avoid the elimination games, and keep control of the route to June 5-8.

The regional winner advances to the super regionals from June 5-8, and the eight super regional winners then move on to the College World Series from June 12-22 in Omaha, Nebraska. For The Citadel, Friday's game is the first turn in that bracket, and the result will decide whether the team moves forward with momentum or has to fight through the elimination side of the field.

Omaha, Nebraska

Only 16 regional winners reach the super regionals, and only 8 teams make it to Omaha, Nebraska. That path makes Friday's 5 p.m. game more than an opening matchup: it is the first test in a bracket where one loss does not end the run, but two do.