CWS Tickets

Familiar CWS Teams Pack Their Bags for Omaha

Fans in Omaha will see familiar faces at the College World Series this year.  So far, four teams have secured spots in the eight team tournament that is set to start June 13th.  The remaining four teams will be decided tonight at Super Regionals across the country.

LSU, Cal State Fullerton, Arkansas, and North Carolina all won their Super Regionals and will make the trek to Omaha.  All four teams have made it to Omaha in the past with Cal State Fullerton making the CWS an amazing 15 times.

The action will begin in Omaha with the opening day celebration on Friday, June 12.  There will be activities for all ages including autograph signing from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM and Kid's Zone games and activities from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.  Disney channel star Mitchel Musso will perform before the opening ceremony in the southeast parking lot with the beautiful backdrop of Rosenblatt Stadium.  During the opening ceremony, fans will enjoy team introductions, a parachute team, and best of all, fireworks!  All of these activities are free to the public.

The College World Series will again be held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.  This will be the second to last year that the series will be held there, the city of Omaha agreed to build a new stadium at the request of NCAA officials if they agreed to keep the CWS in Omaha for 25 more years.  The move to the new stadium is set for the 2011 College World Series.

Breaking down the 2008 CWS (Part 2 of 2)

On Thursday, we took a look at the left half of the bracket for the College World Series. Today, it's the right side we will feature.

North Carolina Tar Heels (51-12, No. 2 seed)

North Carolina has been at the pinnacle each of the last two years, but hasn't been able to seal the deal. This year, they have everything in place to finally take that last step and win the school's first College World Series title.

Coach John Fox has arguably the best team in the series. From top to bottom, experts have heaped all kinds of praise on the Tar Heels and they certainly have done little to make anyone think any different about this team's chances.

North Carolina has a tremendous pitching staff, led by Alex White (10-3, 2.75, 101 K) and Adam Warren (9-1, 4.07). They can go deep into their bullpen with players like Rob Wooten and Matt Harvey, and there really aren't many holes on their staff.

Offensively, the Tar Heels have a lot of solid hitters, led by Dustin Ackley (.408, 7 HR, 50 RBI, 18 SB) and Tim Fedroff (.398, 12 HR, 69 RBI, 13 SB). Kyle Seager and Seth Williams are also solid at the plate for North Carolina.

CWS Tickets' Outlook: Close but no cigar has been the mark of the Tar Heels the last two years. This team has everything in place to take that final step to the top this year, and they're the only team to beat Miami in a series this year.

LSU Tigers (48-17-1, No. 7 seed)

They're baaaaaack.

LSU has long been one of the most well-traveled teams in College World Series history, even during those years when the Tigers fell short of making the trip to Omaha. This year, LSU is coming in as the hottest team in college baseball and is looking to get back to the top for the first time since 2000.

LSU stumbled through the early part of the season as this still-young team was finding the going tough. They caught fire in late April, though, and went on a six-week winning streak that didn't end until the first game of their super regional against UC Irvine. They were one inning away from an untimely two-game losing streak before storming back to beat the Anteaters twice to earn the trip to Omaha.

The Tigers get it done with some great pitching, led by Louis Coleman (7-0, 1.30), Ryan Verdugo (9-3, 3.90) and Jared Bradford (10-4, 4.50, 5 saves). Blake Martin and Jordan Brown also have pitched well for the Tigers this season.

But a lot of people like the way LSU hits the ball, and they have done it well this season. Blake Dean (.359, 20 HR, 70 RBI) and Matt Clark (.347, 26 HR, 61 RBI) lead the team, they have gotten some great defensive efforts from the likes of Michael Holander and Kyle Seager.

The Tigers have been very tough to stop on offense during the postseason. In 11 tournament games (counting the SEC tournament), they are averaging almost 10 runs a game, making them one of the most potent offenses in the eight-team field.

CWS Tickets' Outlook: The Tigers are white hot right now, having won 24 of their last 25. They have long been one of the most popular teams for local fans, and they could very well be playing for it all.

Rice Owls (47-13, No. 6 seed)

The Owls didn't have much problem getting back to Omaha for the third straight year, although they needed a late home run from Adam Zornes to finish off their super regional sweep of Texas A&M.

This is a team that knows what needs to be done in Omaha, and they have some great experience on both sides of the ball. Zornes led the offense with 12 home runs, and this is a team that doesn't pack a ton of punch, but knows how to score runs, averaging almost 7.5 runs per game this season. J.P. Padron (.362) and Diego Seastrunk (.353) lead the Owls in the hitting department, and Aaron Luna and Jimmy Comerota have been crafty thieves on the basepaths with 12 steals apiece.

In the pitching dpeartment, Rice has had some good arms carry them through this year. Cole St. Clair (10-2, 2.61, 5 saves) has thrown the ball very well for coach Wayne Grham this season, as has Chris Kelly (5-1, 3.28) and Matt Langwell (5-1, 4.35).

CWS Tickets' Outlook: Rice won the national title in 2003, and they continue to be one of those teams that will make things interesting for the fans coming to the College World Series. Don't be surprised to see Rice playing in the finals.

Fresno State Bulldogs (42-29, unseeded)

If you had said back in March that Fresno State would be playing in Omaha, nobody would have believed you. Yet this team, which started the year 8-12, came together at the right time and is the surprise team among the eight-team field playing in Omaha.

Fresno State slugged their way through a particularly tough regional, beating out top seed Long Beach State and two solid teams in Cal and San Diego in the process. They then pulled off a major upset by winning two straight from Arizona State on the road to earn the trip to Rosenblatt.

Steve Susdorf came up huge in the super regional and is part of a potent foursome on offense for the Bulldogs. He hit .345 with 11 home runs and 81 RBI's this season, and is complimented by leading hitter Alan Ahmady (.384, 12 HR, 84 RBI), Erik Wetzel (.361, 6 HR, 36 RBI) and slugger Tommy Mendocna (.282, 15 HR, 59 RBI).

The Bulldogs have a solid defense behind a salty pitching staff, led by junior righthander Tanner Scheppers (8-2, 2.93). Brandon Burke has been very solid as a closer for the Bulldogs, posting 12 saves on the season.

CWS Tickets' Outlook: On paper, the Bulldogs don't appear to be much of a challenge. But as Arizona State found out the hard way, this team is not one to be taken lightly and they will make the other three teams in this half of the bracket earn their keep.

On Saturday, we'll predict the entire tournament, from first game to national champion. In the meantime, get your tickets for the 2008 College World Series now at Ticket Express -- where no College World Series game is ever sold out.

Race To Rosenblatt: The Final Eight

After almost four months of swings and pitches, runs and outs, hits and errors, it's come down to this -- the final eight for the College World Series.

History was made Monday night as Fresno State became the first team in the 64-team era to earn a CWS bid while starting regional play as a No. 4 seed. They came up big in one of the hardest places for a visiting team to play, winning back-to-back games to knock out Arizona State, a team many thought -- back in February -- would be one of the major contenders for a national title.

For the first time in recent memory, the majority of teams coming to Omaha are familiar faces. LSU returns to Omaha after a couple of years away, as does Georgia. Both schools come from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which hasn't had a national champion since LSU last won the title in 2000.

That conference drought pales in comparison to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which hasn't had a College World Series champion since Wake Forest did the deed way back in 1955. Miami -- one of three ACC teams coming to Omaha -- has won four national titles, but won them all prior to joining the ACC.

Fresno State also ends a long drought, making it back to Omaha for the first time since 1991. They will truly be the Cinderella story if they get far enough along in the tournament, as they will play in the tougher half of the eight-team, double-elimination bracket along with Rice, LSU and two-time runner-up North Carolina.

Tomorrow and Friday, we'll break down both halves of the bracket and will predict how the tournament will play out Saturday. For now, our CWS Tickets Race To Rosenblatt rankings look like this:

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. North Carolina

3. Florida State

4. LSU

5. Rice

6. Georgia

7. Stanford

8. Fresno State

Several notable No. 1 seeds are out

Thursday was a bad day for No. 1 seeds, as four notable top seeds bid adieu to their chances of winning a conference championship.

Three of the four teams went 2-and-cue in double-elimination play and were eliminated by Thursday. The fourth, playing in pool play, assured itself of an early trip home after suffering a second straight loss yesterday.

The first of the top seeds to go down was St. John's, who went 2-and-out and was eliminated by Seton Hall from the Big East tournament on Wednesday. The losses will severely damage the Johnnies' chances of hosting a regional, which looked like a pretty good bet going into the tournament. Losses to eighth-seeded Villanova and Seton Hall aren't going to look good on their resume.

Two teams expected to be in the hunt for a top-eight seed were eliminated early. Rice was the top seed in the Conference USA tournament and looked to be a lock for a top-eight seed, but losing to Alabama-Birmingham in the opening round Wednesday and being eliminated 4-3 by East Carolina on Thursday isn't going to help the Owls' chances. They were ranked high enough that they may still get in as a top-eight seed, but it may not be much higher than No. 8 at this point.

Georgia was being looked at as a contender for a top-eight seed, but losses to Ole Miss and Alabama have them on the outside looking in at the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs were looking to be in pretty good shape to host a first-round regional and probably didn't hurt their chances in that respect. But going 2-and-cue isn't going to keep them in the top-eight conversation.

Texas A&M had played themselves in contention for a top-eight seed two weeks ago, but the Aggies are in a free-fall that has now stretched to eight games after they dropped their first two in pool play at the Big 12 Conference tournament. The top-seeded Aggies fell to Oklahoma 4-1 on Wednesday and were outslugged by rival Texas 15-9 Thursday, running their losing streak to eight games. The Aggies are no longer in contention for a top-eight seed, and if they can't close pool play with a win against Missouri on Saturday, they may be in danger of losing a chance to host a first-round regional tournament as well.

The only No. 1 team to have opened with a loss and survived elimination was Texas-San Antonio in the Southern Conference tournament. They opened with a loss on Wednesday, but stayed alive Thursday with a 9-7 win over Northwestern State.

Conference tournament play continues through Sunday, and the NCAA will announce the 64-team field Sunday evening.

Race To Rosenblatt: A new No. 1

After almost two months at the top, the Miami Hurricanes are taking a tumble in this week's CWS Tickets' Race To Rosenblatt rankings.

While the Hurricanes will likely be the top seed when the NCAA Tournament field is set next week, a move down is required because they lost a three-game series to the No. 2 team in our rankings, North Carolina.

The Tar Heels came back from a 12-2 thrashing on Thursday to beat the Hurricanes 10-6 and 12-11, and they will spend a week on top before the postseason.

The 1-2 switch wasn't the only move in this week's rankings. Nebraska took a three-step drop after suffering their first sweep of the season at Missouri. Stanford also fell out of the rankings after losing to Arizona over the weekend, making way for San Diego to enter the top eight.

Rice leapfrogged over Florida State to the No. 3 spot after sweeping Tulane over the weekend, while the Seminoles took two of three from North Carolina State. Arizona State moves up to No. 5 this week after a sweep against Washington, while Georgia, which took two of three from Alabama, stays put at No. 7.

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

1. North Carolina

2. Miami (Fla.)

3. Rice

4. Florida State

5. Arizona State

6. Nebraska

7. Georgia

8. San Diego

Group, once against tax, now wants it higher

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.

Race To Rosenblatt: Aggies join the top eight

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

Race To Rosenblatt -- Miami still lead dog

The University of Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes did nothing to discourage us from keeping them at the top of our Race To Rosenblatt rankings.

Winning two of three on the road is never easy, and doing it against a very talented in-state rival is even more impressive. The Hurricanes turned the trick in Tallahassee, beating Florida State in a key ACC showdown.

The loss does knock the Seminoles down a notch this week, but they aren't the only team to take a tumble.

Arizona State, which was looking like a world-beater of a program just a couple of weeks ago, lost a Pac 10 series again over the weekend, this time at home to Oregon State. It was the first time the two-time defending College World Series champion Beavers won a series in Tempe, and that was enough to knock the former top team completely out of our top eight this week.

Taking the open spot in the lineup is Rice, which dominated a good East Carolina team in a key Conference USA showdown. The Owls look poised to make another run at Omaha and they slip into our rankings this week.

Missouri and Stanford make two-spot promotions this week after winning series on the road. Nebraska and Wichita State both move up a spot this week after winning conference home series over Kansas and Southern Illinois, respectively.

Our Race To Rosenblatt rankings for this week are as follows:

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. North Carolina

3. Missouri

4. Stanford

5. Florida State

6. Nebraska

7. Wichita State

8. Rice

Key matchups this weekend

It should be an interesting weekend as many of the major conferences begin inter-conference play.

Here are some of the key weekend matchups we'll be watching as teams continue their journey on the road to the College World Series:

South Carolina at Vanderbilt

The No. 4 and No. 5 teams in the CWS Tickets Race To Rosenblatt rankings hook up in a key Southeastern Conference showdown. The Commodores won two out of three against the Gamecocks last year on their way to winning the conference title. South Carolina will look to bounce back from an inexplicable loss to Yale on Tuesday.

Cal State Fullerton at Arizona

Arizona is our No. 2-ranked team right now, and they get their first big test at home against a talented Cal State Fullerton team. The Titans own a pair of wins over UCLA, but the Wildcats are on a 10-game winning streak after dropping their season opener to Georgia.

Ole Miss at Mississippi State

The Rebels are No. 8 in our rankings and will look to bounce back after a rough weekend. Their in-state rivals are also licking their wounds after being swept at home by Baylor. More than in-state bragging rights are on the line in this one.

USC vs. Long Beach State

The Trojans play the first and third game of this series in Long Beach, with the middle game at USC's Dedauex Field. Both teams are playing well, but Long Beach -- which was coming off series sweeps of Hawaii and Wichita State -- was shut out by Western Illinois and will need to rebound against the Trojans.

Watch your favorite teams as they continue play during the 2008 season with the goal of making it to the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium. And don't wait to get your CWS tickets -- order them now at Ticket Express.

CWS Tickets' Race To Rosenblatt

The Race To Rosenblatt is starting to heat up, although there is very little change in our weekly listing of the top eight teams in the country.

The only change comes at the bottom, where UCLA is playing very well and is coming off a strong weekend. They switch places with Missouri, who went 3-2 over the weekend. Miami sits just on the outside waiting for somebody to stumble this week.

Here's a rundown of this week's CWS Tickets Race To Rosenblatt:

1. Arizona State

The Sun Devils dominated their second straight weekend tournament to remain undefeated on the year, beating Michigan, Hawaii and Portland. They can make it a third straight weekend sweep with a home series against Massachusetts this weekend.

2. North Carolina

The Tar Heels played very well in winning the Coca-Cola Classic in Rock Hill, S.C., beating Winthrop, Kent State and St. John's. North Carolina got some strong pitching performances as the Tar Heel hurlers combined for 50 strikeouts and a 1.19 ERA over the weekend.

3. Ole Miss

The Runnin' Rebels enjoyed the return of Matt Smith from a knee injury, as he lit up Indiana State for three home runs and went 9-for-14 at the plate over the weekend. Lane Lynn and Cody Satterwhite pitched well in their weekend sweep of the Sycamores.

4. Arizona

The Wildcats disposed of Sacramento State in a three-game weekend sweep, and the bats were hot for the Wildcats as they stung the Hornets for 34 runs in three games. The Wildcats did have to come back to finish off the sweep Sunday, bouncing back from a five-run deficit.

5. Vanderbilt

The Commodores got solid pitching over the weekend to win two of three in the Music City Classic, with Mike Minor and Nick Christiani both turning in solid victories.

6. South Carolina

The Gamecocks swept Clemson in a two-game seet over the weekend and got great pitching from Mike Cisco and Blake Cooper to get coach Ray Tanner his 900th career win.

7. UCLA

The Bruins remain undefeated after beating cross-city rival USC in the finals of the Urban Invitational. UCLA did struggle against Bethune-Cookman before pulling out a late 2-0 win, getting a complete-game shutout from lefty Tim Murphy, who struck out 10.

8. Missouri

The Tigers won three of four at the San Diego Tournament, losing to the host team 5-4 in what proved to be the deciding game.

Which of these teams will complete the journey and make their way to Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series? Make sure you get tickets to see your favorite teams in action with Ticket Express -- where no College World Series game is ever sold out.