OMAHA, Neb. — The game’s the same.
It’s what happens away from the field and how players deal with it that can affect how long a team sticks around at the College World Series.
The eight-team CWS opens Friday with fourth-seeded North Carolina (47-14) playing No. 12 Virginia (46-15) at 2 p.m. Eastern at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, and No. 8 Florida State (47-15) facing No. 1 Tennessee (55-12) at 7 in first-round games for one double-elimination bracket. The other quartet begins play Saturday, when No. 10 North Carolina State (38-21) meets No. 2 Kentucky (45-14) at 2 p.m. before unseeded Florida (34-28) plays No. 3 Texas A&M (49-13) at 7.
All four of those games will be televised by ESPN.
For the first time since the CWS went to an eight-team format in 1950, only two conferences are represented. The Atlantic Coast Conference has Florida State, North Carolina, N.C. State and Virginia, while the Southeastern Conference has Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
The two bracket winners will square off in the best-of-three finals beginning June 22.
Florida, Tennessee and Virginia are here for the second straight year, and each brought back the majority of its lineup.
“I can tell you that last year was the first time any of us had played in front of 25,000 fans,” Virginia junior outfielder Casey Saucke said. “It was electric, and you love hearing the stadium like that, seeing the stadium like that. It’s not going to faze us as much this year with the core of our lineup returning. We’ve already played in front of that, so when you’re getting in the (batter’s) box for the first time, you’re not as nervous.”
The Cavaliers lost two one-run games in the shortest of the program’s six CWS appearances before this year, and Saucke and his teammates said they learned a lesson about the importance of being fully dialed in on the field and not getting caught up in the pomp and pageantry of the event.
There are autographs to sign, outings to Omaha’s nationally known zoo and other attractions, team dinners and media responsibilities. Players also try to carve out time to spend with family members who come in from around the country.
Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said he offers advice about time management, and this year he also had returning players address teammates about how to handle the distractions. Junior infielder Griff O’Ferrall said he tried to describe to the CWS newbies what would happen in and around the games so there are no surprises.
“The first couple of innings, you are a little bit in awe and just a little bit in shock just with the atmosphere itself and how many people are in the stands,” O’Ferrall said. “We’ve been trying to talk to the young guys and the guys who haven’t been here, just giving them a heads-up on what it’s like.
“Our main message has just been to not try and do too much. We’re here for a reason. As long as we do the small things and do what we’re capable of, the moment doesn’t get too big.”
Texas A&M has three key members of its pitching staff and a utility player back from its 2022 CWS team, while N.C. State still has seven players from its roster for 2021 — when the Wolfpack were sent home by the NCAA after three games because of COVID-19 protocol amid the pandemic.
Florida State is here for the first time since 2019, while North Carolina is back for the first time since 2018. Kentucky is making its first appearance.
Tennessee, like Virginia, hopes to have a longer stay this year. The 2023 Volunteers lost their opener to eventual national champion LSU and ace Paul Skenes, then beat Stanford to avoid elimination before getting knocked out with a 5-0 loss to LSU, the first time they were shut out in 133 games.
Vols junior outfielder Hunter Ensley said the atmosphere can knock players off their games.
“I think a good message to relay to the guys is trying to slow everything down,” he said. “I know sometimes you get out on the field and get under the lights, you want to go a little too fast or do too much.”
Florida has seven everyday players, including star pitcher/slugger Jac Caglianone, back from the 2023 team that was the national runner-up to LSU.
The Gators’ young pitchers struggled early this year, and it took until the final regular-season weekend to lock up a winning record, which made them eligible for an NCAA tournament at-large bid. They’ve won a regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and a super regional in Clemson, South Carolina, to return to Omaha.
“Beginning of the year, we wanted to get back here,” Caglianone said. “So having guys who have played here and know what the atmosphere is like, I think, is going to play in our favor.”