There are few things in college sports more reliably goosebump-inducing than a fanbase taking over a neutral-site stadium, and West Virginia just did it in Omaha. Gold-and-blue everywhere, phones out, and a homemade sign telling the PA exactly what song to play. If you grew up watching Mountaineers football crowds belt John Denver at Milan Puskar, you knew this was always going to translate the second WVU baseball got to the biggest stage.
A 'Cue Country Roads' sign and a packed pocket of WVU fans turning Charles Schwab Field into a singalong.
The rest of the bracket is doing its part to make this a heater of a CWS too. Ole Miss and North Carolina drew the kind of color-on-color matchup that makes the broadcast pop before a pitch is even thrown, and the early innings have already shown why Omaha plays differently than every other ballpark in the country — the dimensions out there eat would-be home runs alive.
An appreciation of the Rebs-vs-Tar Heels uniform pairing kicking off the CWS slate.
Ole Miss Red vs Carolina Blue ELITE uniform matchup #CWS
Speaking of Omaha eating baseballs — there was already a near-miss off the warning track that would've cleared the fence in most college parks. That's the CWS tax. You stop hitting bombs and you start grinding for runs, which is exactly why pitching depth becomes the whole ballgame the deeper into the bracket you go.
A live read on how the Omaha warning track keeps saving runs that would be gone elsewhere.
The Omaha warning track just saved the Rebs a run. That ball is a homer in 90% of college ballparks
For West Virginia, just being part of this conversation is the story. The program has never been a regular at the CWS, and the fanbase clearly knows it — you don't paint a 'Cue Country Roads' sign for a regional. You paint it because you finally got to Omaha and you're going to soak up every second of it. Cherish these moments is right.