UNC baseball wins on field — but Tennessee takes Jell-O Shot Challenge lead in Omaha

N.C. State and UNC are among the eight college baseball teams competing in the Men’s College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

Nearby, another competition is taking place at Rocco’s Pizza & Cantina — the Jell-O Shot Challenge — in which fans purchase Jell-O shots to support their teams, with the results tracked on a whiteboard.

The silly, alcohol-fueled fun is benefiting food banks across the country. From every $5 paid for each shot, $1 goes to a local food bank (if you’re a UNC fan, it’ll go to a food bank in Chapel Hill, etc.) and 50 cents to the Heartland Food Bank in Omaha.

Kevin Culjat, co-owner of Rocco’s alongside his wife, Bonnie, said the inspiration for the Jell-O Shot Challenge came from a former coworker who used to make bottle shots in CWS team colors. Culjat adapted this, simplifying the preparation with Jell-O shots.

It started gaining traction about four years ago, when an Arkansas fan in town for the CWS bought 864 shots over the course of a single week.

So Culjat put more effort into promotions.

Two years ago, he began creating plaques for the teams whose fans consumed the most Jell-O shots. And, that same year, an Arkansas contingent showed up on the first day of the CWS, ready to do some damage.

“They rented out the party room and from nine o’clock to noon they drank 3000 jello shots,” Culjat said, “And then it just kind of exploded from there.”

You can keep up with the leaderboard by following @CWSShotBoard on X (formerly known as Twitter), which claims to be “The Official Twitter Account of the CWS Jello Shot Challenge.”

As of early Friday afternoon, the North Carolina faithful led the pack with 506 shots. But, later in the evening, Tennessee vaulted into the lead with an NIL-related promotion.

According to Rocco’s, Tennessee holds an all-time day one record after downing 348 shots on Thursday.

It should be noted that the Volunteers, along with Virginia and Florida supporters, have experience on their side, having competed in the 2023 challenge as well.

And what’s a Jell-O shot competition without sports betting? That’s right — you can put money on which group of fans will top the leaderboard.

Here’s a video from Collin Wilson of The Action Network breaking down the odds of each CWS fanbase. He listed N.C. State’s moneyline odds at +1000 and UNC at +600.

Will the N.C. State Wolfpack show up with extra vengeance after their team was forced to drop out of the 2021 CWS due to COVID-19 protocols? Will the Tar Heel faithful carry some of that “Bosh magic” with them to Rocco’s?

Only time will tell. But one thing is almost certain — nobody is touching the record.

That belongs to LSU fans, who bought 68,888 Jell-O shots in 2023, far surpassing the previous record of 18,777 by Ole Miss in 2022. Of course, 10% of LSU’s total came from a single $30,000 purchase by Todd Graves, founder of the Raising Cane’s restaurant chain.

Top finishes in the challenge, according to The Daily Advertiser, include:

- LSU, 2023: 68,888

- Ole Miss, 2022: 18,777

- Arkansas, 2022: 8,672

- Wake Forest, 2023: 7,622

- TCU, 2023: 7,070

- Florida, 2023: 4,136

- Oral Roberts, 2023: 3,323

- Mississippi State, 2021: 3,000