If you are at all like me, upon entering college one of the first things you did was make a checklist of things to do during your time in Tucson.
I took care of the easy stuff first.
Take a trip to Nogales. Check.
Get tickets to a basketball game. Check.
Hit the Buffet at six in the morning. Check.
Travel to Tempe for some sort of ASU/UA game. Check.
Near the bottom of my list were trips to Omaha, when the Wildcats made the College World Series, and any sort of bowl game the football team was in.
Since the Wildcats hadn't been to Omaha since 1986, and head coach Andy Lopez was only three years into his rebuilding process, I assumed the trip to the College World Series was a few years off. I had resigned myself to making the trip after graduation until about two weeks ago.
Even Lopez would tell you his team was "ahead of schedule".
Arizona went 3-0 in its regional in South Bend, and then knocked off heavily favored Long Beach State in the Super Regional.
After being in Omaha for almost a week, I must suggest that all Arizona students put a trip to Omaha for the College World Series on their checklist, because the Wildcats WILL be back.
Omaha is a great city for the two weeks the College World Series is in town.
"I hope if they move the site of the College World Series, I'm no longer coaching," Lopez said. "There's nothing like being in this part of the country at this time of the year." And he should know.
This year, Lopez became the third coach in history to direct three different schools to Omaha.
There are a number of reasons why Lopez and many others love Omaha during the College World Series.
It's a great place to be.
ESPN has televised at least part of the series for the last 25 years and will continue to do so.
Attendance has increased every year and this year's event is on pace to break last year's attendance record.
Omaha has great places to visit other than Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha has one of the nation's best zoos across from the ballpark and, surprisingly, some good night life.
Pauli's is a must for any CWS visitor. It's a bar downtown that has become a World Series staple since ESPN started televising games 25 years ago.
Players, coaches, broadcasters and hundreds of fans fill the fenced-off parking lot every night.
However, the number one reason to take two weeks off during the summer to get to Omaha is the people. The Omaha locals are great.
They'll go out of their way to make sure you have a pleasant trip. That's why even the teams that go home early leave with a smile.
While waiting in line for tickets at 5 a.m., a college-aged kid bought ten extra Egg McMuffins and handed them out to people in line. On two different occasions I've had people buy me beers just because I was from out of state.
So fit Omaha into your "to do" list right between diving off the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center high dive and actually graduating. With the way the football team has been playing the last few years, you might get a couple trips to Nebraska in before you ever step foot in a bowl game.
Charles Renning is a sports writer for the Arizona Summer Wildcat. He was on hand this week in Omaha to watch the 'Cats' season-ending loss to Georgia.