More parity in college baseball? 2025 MCWS could be a glimpse of things to come - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — Every time a new team makes it to Omaha, Shane Hughes gets a hat.

The Nebraska native has seen hundreds of games at the Men's College World Series, many involving schools such as LSU and Stanford. But Hughes loves it when a first-time team prompts him and his buddies to google the school to find out where it's located, like they did last week when Murray State, which is in western Kentucky, was beating Duke in a super regional. Hughes likes to commemorate those rare years when upsets bring new blood to Omaha by buying the first-time qualifier's hat.

On Saturday morning, he walked past the farmers market and stopped inside the Hyatt Place in downtown Omaha, Murray State's team hotel, and bought a Racers' hat at a merchandise stand. Hughes figured the unique logo — a horseshoe wrapped around a jockey and a horse — would probably make for a good conversation piece, much like his 2012 Stony Brook lid.

«I think Omaha old-school fans that go every year like to root for that newbie, that underdog,» Hughes said, «because baseball is a romantic sport, man.… We always like to see the little guy on the big stage do well.

»We like seeing the look on the peoples' faces when they think Omaha is nothing but a cornfield, and they get here and they realize it really is baseball's Disneyland."

The college baseball postseason was a bumpy ride for blue bloods in 2025. No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Texas were gone in the first weekend. Only three of the top 10 seeds survived super regionals, making this one of the most diverse Men's College World Series in recent memory. Soon, it might not be an anomaly.

A year after the SEC and ACC accounted for all of the MCWS berths (four each), six conferences are represented this year, as