CWS Tickets

Three months ago, a group representing those who run hotels in Omaha voiced their opposition to a proposed 1 percent increase in the city's hotel tax.

In February, the Metropolitan Hospitality Association told Mayor Mike Fahey they didn't like his idea for an increase in the hotel tax, saying it would make Omaha's the highest hotel tax rate in the country and would attract competition from other cities for conventions and events it currently brings to town.

In Tuesday's Omaha World-Herald, though, it seems the MHA has had a dramatic change of heart. Now, they now only want the increase in the hotel tax, but they are actually asking for it to be higher than originally proposed.

The MHA has asked Fahey to send a proposal to the Omaha City Council that would raise the hotel tax by 1.5 percent, with the extra money generated from that tax going to the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau to help promote Omaha as a destination.

Dana Markel, director of the bureau, said the money would be welcome to help the organization promote the city, even though Omaha already has one of the nation's highest hotel tax rates (16.48 percent). If the proposal gets City Council approval, it would give the city the dubioius distinction of having the highest hotel tax rate in the country.

Officials counter, though, that the building of a new downtown stadium to replace Rosenblatt Stadium will still make the city a more attractive destination, which will help improve the local hospitality industry.

It's the last weekend of the regular season as conference tournament play heats up next week. Here's a rundown of some of the key matchups for the last weekend of the regular season.

North Carolina at Miami (Fla.)

Outside of the last three games of the season in Omaha, there is no bigger series this season than this one as No. 1 Miami takes on No. 2 North Carolina.

The fate of the Coastal Division title in the ACC rests on the outcome of this one, where Miami holds a 2 1/2 game lead over the two-time defending College World Series runners-up. A North Carolina sweep would make Florida State the top seed for next week's conference tournament, while the Hurricanes can secure the No. 1 seed with a pair of wins this weekend.

Nebraska at Missouri

This one is important for both teams as they get ready for next week's Big 12 tournament.

The Huskers are still mathematically alive to win the regular-season title and need to do two games better than Texas A&M to take the title. Nebraska can put themselves in prime position for a top-eight national seed by winning this series.

Missouri, on the other hand, is a team that is trying to salvage what was a promising start to the year and get themselves in position for a good tournament seeding. Their pitching has been the only thing keeping this from becoming a full-scale disaster in Tigertown.

Texas A&M vs. Texas

Another Big 12 battle with major tournament implications. After losing two of three at Nebraska, the Aggies need to right the ship against their arch rivals with Friday's opener in College Station and the final two games on Texas' home field.

It's been a struggle for the Longhorns, who find themselves in the unusual position of being in the middle of the Big 12 field. A series win this weekend could give them some much-needed momentum, and could also spoil their rival's hopes of winning the regular-season title.

Vanderbilt at Florida

The Commodores find themselves in the middle of the SEC title hunt once again, and a series win this weekend could nail down an NCAA regional host bid.

Baylor at Texas Tech

While it's easily the least sexy matchup in the final weekend of Big 12 play, this one could have postseason implications for both schools. Texas Tech is in last place, but could vault into the top eight and earn a Big 12 tournament bid with a sweep of the Bears (coupled with losses by Kansas State and Oklahoma). Baylor could slip into the top four with a sweep, and could just as easily be out of the tournament if the right scenarios play out.

Georgia Tech at Virginia

This ACC showdown is more for postseason position than anything else. The Yellow Jackets could be in contention for an NCAA regional host site if they win this series. Virginia may find themselves on the bubble if they don't perform well this weekend.

The top five stayed put and only one team dropped out in this week's Baseball America Top 25 rankings.

Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State and Nebraska still lead the way going into the final weekend of the regular season. Georgia and Cal State Fullerton both moved into the top 10 as San Diego and Stanford both fell out of the top 10.

The only new team this week is Tulane, which replaced South Carolina and comes in at the No. 25 slot.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (41-6, 1), 2. North Carolina (42-9, 2), 3. Arizona State (40-9, 3), 4. Florida State (43-8, 4), 5. Nebraska (38-9, 5),

6. Rice (39-11, 7), 7. Georgia (33-17, 11), 8. Cal State Fullerton (32-17, 12), 9. Texas A&M (42-10, 9), 10. Oklahoma State (35-12, 10),

11. San Diego (39-15, 8), 12. UC Irvine (33-13, 13), 13. California (32-16, 16), 14. Stanford (29-18, 6), 15. Missouri (34-17, 15),

16. Louisiana State (35-16, 22), 17. Michigan (38-11, 20), 18. St. John's (39-11, 21), 19. Vanderbilt (37-15, 18), 20. North Carolina State (35-16, 19),

21. Kentucky (38-14, 23), 22. Wichita State (38-14, 14), 23. Coastal Carolina (41-11. 24), 24. Texas Christian (35-16, 25), 25. Tulane (36-15, NR).

During the last several weeks, Miami and North Carolina have been not only the top two teams in our Race To Rosenblatt rankings, but the top two teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

This weekend, they finally get to settle the matter of conference supremacy once and for all, and the winner will have front-runner status next week as the postseason gets underway with conference tournaments.

The Hurricanes have been at the top of most of the baseball rankings for a good chunk of the season, and North Carolina has been right on their heels (so to speak) for much of that time. It's a role the Tar Heels have become accustomed to, as they are the two-time defending runners-up at the College World Series.

As far as the rest of the rankings goes, Nebraska stays put after a crazy weekend that saw them lose a 16-inning thriller to Texas A&M, then post late comebacks in both ends of a doubleheader to take the series, ending the Aggies' 16-game conference winning streak and ultimately nudging them out of our rankings.

The only other change comes with Stanford, which drops from fifth to eighth after losing two of three at home to a good Cal team. Rice and Arizona State both move up, and Georgia makes its debut at No. 7 this week.

Next week, we could see teams from San Diego, Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma State crack the top eight. Don't count out Texas A&M, though, as they could wrap up the Big 12 title with two wins over Texas this weekend.

This week's Race To Rosenblatt rankings are:

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. North Carolina

3. Nebraska

4. Florida State

5. Rice

6. Arizona State

7. Georgia

8. Stanford

The 2008 season is coming to a close, and there were some great weekend matchups to summarize. So without further adieu, here's a wrapup of the weekend that was:

Nebraska takes two from Texas A&M

Without a doubt, the most entertaining series of the weekend was in Lincoln, Neb., where the Nebraska Cornhuskers took two from Big 12-leading Texas A&M in what was a wild three-game series.

The opener was a marathon, as the two teams played for more than five hours before the Aggies got a two-out, bases-clearing double from Dane Carter to give the visitors a 6-3, 16-inning win over the Huskers.

Rain forced a Sunday doubleheader that proved to be a wild one. Nebraska came from behind with late rallies in both games, including a five-run rally in the nightcap to sweep the twinbill by scores of 9-8 and 13-10.

The wins moved the Huskers to within 1 1/2 games of the Aggies heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Texas A&M hosts Texas this weekend while the Huskers travel to Missouri. The Aggies can clinch the regular-season title by taking two of three from the Longhorns.

Owls sweep the Cougars

Rice clinched the Conference USA regular-season title with a convincing sweep of Houston this weekend, winning by scores of 13-6, 8-1 and 12-6. The wins put the Owls in contention for a top-eight seeding for the national tournament.

North Carolina takes care of Virginia

Second-ranked North Carolina claimed a weekend series from Virginia, taking the first two games 9-3 and 5-2. The Cavaliers won the getaway game on Sunday, 5-4.

Cal handles Stanford

Cal took two from Stanford on the road over the weekend. They won the opener 4-3 in 10 innings and took Saturday's game by a 5-2 margin. The Cardinal salvaged a win on Sunday with an 8-5 triumph.

Georgia comes back to be Vandy

In a key Southeastern Conference showdown, Georgia rebounded from Friday's 13-7 loss to win the final two games of the series, beating the Commodores 4-2 in 10 innings on Saturday and winning a wild 12-10 affair in the rubber game Sunday. The series win should make the Bulldogs the top seed for the conference tournament in two weeks.

Dirtbags handle Gauchos

Long Beach State took two of three from UC Santa Barbara over the weekend. The Dirtbags won the opener 3-0 and clinched the series with a 10-8 win Saturday. Long Beach won the finale 5-3.

The NCAA Div. I baseball tournament field won't be announced until Memorial Day weekend, but we already know who one of the 64 teams will be.

Columbia defeated Dartmouth 7-5 to win the third and final game of the Ivy League championship series earlier this week. By doing so, the Lions earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Div. I baseball tournament, which starts May 30.

It's been a long time coming for Columbia. The last time they got a taste of the postseason was 1976, and they haven't been conference champions since sharing the title in 1977. While they will certainly be one of the longshots for a trip to the College World Series (the last Ivy League team to make it to Omaha was Harvard in 1973), they are assured to be one of the 64 teams that will make the postseason.

Most of the league tournaments will be held two weeks from now as the regular season winds down next week.

Omaha officials were hoping a new stadium would encourage the NCAA would keep the College World Series in town for 20 years.

They were wrong -- and they couldn't be any happier about it.

Tuesday afternoon, the College World Series of Omaha Inc. organization announced it had reached an agreement with the NCAA that will keep the college baseball tournament in Omaha through 2035. The 25-year deal is longer than what was expected when a memorandum of agreement between the two sides was signed last week. That agreement stated that the College World Series would stay in Omaha for 20 years.

Under the agreement, the lion's share of the revenue generated by the two-week tournament will take care of the city's projected $140 million stadium construction debt. The remaining funds will go to stadium operation expenses and upkeep, reserve funding for stadium expenses and the NCAA.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that the stadium should bring in about $16 million in 2011, the first year the stadium would be used. Of that revenue, $6.5 million would go to construction debt, $5 million would go to the NCAA and another $3.5 million would go to operating expenses. The remaining $1 million would be split between the city and NCAA, with the NCAA receiving 80 percent.

Currently, the NCAA is under contract to hold the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium through 2010. Under the current deal, the NCAA receives about $3.3 million from Omaha, so the new deal will be an increase of over 50 percent for the collegiate governing body.

The stadium will be run by the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA), which also oversees the Qwest Center, located just southeast of the new stadium site. MECA will work with the NCAA on securing stadium naming rights, which could bring in close to $1 million annually.

With two weekends left until the heart of conference tournament season, there are some big matchups on tap for this weekend in college baseball. Here are a few of the key battles:

Texas A&M at Nebraska

First place in the Big 12 Conference is on the line in this key matchup. The Huskers have been almost unbeatable at home this year and have not lost a conference series in Haymarket Park. The Aggies are white hot as the nation's only 40-game winner. Something has to give here.

Tulane at East Carolina

Second place in Conference USA is riding on this series, as the Green Wave and Pirates both look to carry some momentum into conference tournament play. The winner likely will be the No. 2 seed behind Rice in the conference tournament.

Cal at Stanford

These two teams have been pleasant surprises in the Pac 10 this year, and both are looking to use this series as a catalyst to possibly host a regional in the NCAA tournament.

Georgia at Vanderbilt

The top two teams in the SEC East Division meet in this battle. Vanderbilt's pitching has risen to the occasion in recent weeks, so this should be a great duel between two teams that could find themselves in the College World Series next month.

Clemson at Georgia Tech

Two teams fighting for their NCAA tournament lives meet here. Both teams have proven they are capable of winning some big games, but the winner here will have a leg up come tournament time.

UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State

These two Big West schools are fighting different battles. The Gauchos are looking to show they belong in the discussion for the NCAA tournament, while the Dirtbags are trying to regain their consistent play from earlier in the year to get some momentum for the postseason.

Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina are still the frontrunners in Baseball America's Top 25 rankings.

There was very little movement this week as most of the teams in the rankings were able to take care of business. Oregon State and Long Beach State did drop out, making room for first-time entries from LSU and Texas Christian.

The top 10 is essentially the same, with a couple of adjustments. Stanford falls out of the top five into sixth place, allowing Arizona State, Florida State and Nebraska to move up a spot. Texas A&M and Oklahoma State switched spots, with the Aggies moving up to No. 9.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (39-5, 1), 2. North Carolina (38-8, 2), 3. Arizona State (37-8, 4), 4. Florida State (38-7, 5), 5. Nebraska (36-8, 6),

6. Stanford (27-15. 3), 7. Rice (34-11, 7), 8. San Diego (37-13, 8), 9. Texas A&M (40-8, 10), 10. Oklahoma State (35-12, 9),

11. Georgia (31-15, 11), 12. Cal State Fullerton (29-16, 12), 13. UC Irvine (30-12, 13), 14. Wichita State (36-11, 14), 15. Missouri (31-16, 15),

16. California (29-15, 16), 17. South Carolina (33-15, 17), 18. Vanderbilt (34-13, 22), 19. North Carolina State (32-14, 19), 20. Michigan (34-11, 21),

21. St. John's (35-10, 24), 22. Louisiana State (32-16, NR), 23. Kentucky (34-13, 18), 24. Coastal Carolina (38-11, 20), 25. Texas Christian (33-16, NR).

There's a new face in the Race To Rosenblatt rankings this week in the Texas A&M Aggies.

The Aggies have been on fire in the Big 12 Conference this year and are, at this writing, the only 40-win team in Div. 1 college baseball (although top-ranked Miami will join the club with their next win).

The Aggies replace fellow conference foe Missouri, who lost to Kansas last week and has been in an offensive funk for the past couple of weeks. The Aggies will really get to show the country what they're made of this weekend when they visit No. 3 Nebraska in a series that may very well decide the top seed for the Big 12 tournament in two weeks.

Stanford dropped a couple of spots this week, allowing for the Huskers and Florida State to move up. Arizona State also moves up as part of Missouri's evacuation from the top eight. Rice, which had the weekend off, stayed put this week.

There are two weeks left in the regular season, which leaves time for teams like San Diego, Oklahoma State, Cal State Fullerton and Georgia to find their way into our rankings.

This week's CWS Tickets Race To Rosenblatt rankings are as follows:

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. North Carolina

3. Nebraska

4. Florida State

5. Stanford

6. Rice

7. Arizona State

8. Texas A&M