Omaha, Nebraska. Typically, if someone told you to visit just about any city in not just Nebraska but the Great Plains as a whole, you might give him or her a dismissive look and move on. However, there’s something extremely special about Omaha – the Men’s College World Series. 

This year is the 75th anniversary of the MCWS being held in the “Gateway to the West.” The first two years of the MCWS were held in Kalamazoo, MI, before one year in Wichita, KS, but the event has found a special home in East Nebraska. And if you enjoy the sport of baseball to any degree, attending this event at least once in your lifetime is imperative. For nine or ten days per year in late June, college baseball’s crown jewel is rightfully on full display.

I actually went to Omaha last year for the best-of-three Championship Series. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch my beloved Tennessee Volunteers win the program’s first national championship over Texas A&M in three games, and every single expectation I had coming in was shattered. 

For starters, before the baseball even began, I had to check out Rocco’s. Rocco’s Pizza & Cantina, famous for their annual “Jello Shot Challenge” that raises money for charity. Omaha itself is a pretty walkable city, and its downtown area is quite spacious and easy to navigate. Rocco’s is also less than a block away from the grounds of the MCWS, providing a convenient destination for nightly postgame festivities.

The experience inside Charles Schwab Field Omaha – also known as “The Chuck” – is simply breathtaking. Literally, in a sense, because the “corn sweat” caused temperatures to soar into the 100’s with higher than 80% humidity, but also figuratively. It’s difficult to describe the serenity and calmness you feel sitting in your seat watching pregame warmups while the organ continues to play over the speakers with unabating enthusiasm, only interrupted momentarily by NCAA-mandated messaging emitting from the jaw-dropping scoreboard out in right field. During the action, the organ is a prominent feature to maintain the atmosphere from pitch-to-pitch and during any breaks in action. For example, “Stayin’ Alive” is often heard reverberating throughout the stadium when a batter is fouling off pitches in a two-strike count.

Past center field, there is an impossible-to-miss 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel located just outside of the stadium that provides a calm and relaxed view of the diamond. In this “College World Series Family Fun” area there are all sorts of games and activities that people of all ages will enjoy, including children.

This year, Tennessee was bounced in the Fayetteville Super Regional against Arkansas, so the Vols are not defending their national championship in Omaha. Thus, I will not be making the roughly 12-hour drive back to the easternmost city in Nebraska for a second-consecutive season. In fact, there is no guarantee – no matter how likely the Vols are to return under Tony Vitello – that Tennessee will ever make it to Omaha again, much less the championship series. I made the gut decision to drive up there last year once they were two wins away from the program’s first national championship, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. In the future, I hope to be able to have enough funds to last the entire week-plus if the Vols are there again. In the meantime, I would advise everyone reading this to go. Go at least one time in your life because it is an experience that you will never forget. It sounds insane to say, but you should go experience the Men’s College World Series in Omaha

I used to wonder why I would hear stories about LSU fans that would buy a pass to every session for the entire event when LSU didn’t even make it to Omaha, for example. I no longer have that question. On the contrary, I actually completely understand those people; I would do the same thing if I was at that stage in my life. That city cares so much about baseball, and cares about maintaining the elite prestige of the Men’s College World Series. It’s quite noticeable, and it enhances the entire experience. Every local I met and talked to in the three days I was in town gave off a joyous and blissful vibe; those nine or ten days in June feel like the pride and joy of that entire city. 

Nowadays college sports feel like they are in an ever-present state of flux. College football’s national championship changes venue every year as does college basketball’s Final Four, but college baseball’s homestretch is special because it is intrinsically intertwined with a single location in the United States, and I hope that never changes. At this point, having the Men’s College World Series in a different location would be like moving the Rose Bowl out of Pasadena, or playing The Masters outside of Augusta. It would just feel wrong. Some traditions are meant to stay just that – traditions.