It’s finally time to place all eyes on Omaha. No more waiting is necessary, the 70th College World Series is finally here. With so much history having already been made in the preliminary rounds, there is every reason to believe this will be a memorable final two weeks of the baseball season. Just think, never before has a team punched a world series ticket by way of a walk-off grand slam. Rarely does the final eight feature a pair of first time participants or as many teams in search of their initial crown. Touching on these topics and much more, here are EIGHT observations from Omaha…

›The 2016 CWS field is in place. The “Omaha Eight” are now set in stone: Arizona, UC-Santa Barbara, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Miami, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech have all made the trip into the midwest to battle it out for a championship. Bracket One features the Cowboys, Gauchos, Hurricane and Wildcats, while the Chanticleers, Gators, Horned Frogs and Red Raiders occupy Bracket Two. For a full look at the head to head math cups and daily schedule visit the “Series Watch” page.

›Only a trio of National Seeds survived. Just Florida (1), Miami (3) and Texas Tech (5) remain from the eight schools awarded a preferential path at the start of the process. This becomes even more intriguing when you consider that Clemson (7) alone failed to escape the first round of the tournament. Four of the eight National Seeds-Louisville (2), Texas A&M (4), Mississippi State (6) and LSU (8)- were defeated at home in Super Regionals.

›Three 2015 CWS participants are back for more. There will be familiar faces at TD Ameritrade Park, though neither of the teams which traded titles the last two seasons will be on hand. Both defending champion Virginia and their familiar foe Vanderbilt failed to escape home regionals, thus assuring the college baseball world of a new championship series matchup for the first time since 2013. The Gators, Hurricanes and Horned Frogs have all returned from last year’s group. TCU is the only club making a third straight appearance. What do each of these three returners have in common? See the note below on potential first time champions.

›First time clubs, first time champs? First year Arizona head coach Jay Johnson navigated his team past perennial power Mississippi State, using a late inning comeback and an extra inning thriller to become the first team in the field. In fact, the ‘Cats were the only club with a series ticket after day two of Super Regional play. Though they have a new coach and a new crop of players, Arizona is the most recent champion in this year’s College World Series field (2012). Miami joins the ‘Cats as four time Champions, but the ‘Canes are one of only three schools on site having ever won the title. Oklahoma State is back for the first time since the late 1990’s (1999), though their lone championship came forty years prior to that (1959). Coastal Carolina and UC-Santa Barbara are making their first ever appearances, though the Big South and Big West representatives are not the only programs looking to end the month with a first ever title. Florida, TCU and Texas Tech would also be hoisting the trophy for the first time should everything fall their way.

›The Road has been kind. If you get the sense from reading the prior headlines that being at home has meant very little this year, you’d be absolutely correct. Visiting teams dominated the Super Regionals. In fact, among the eight Super pairings Miami was the only home team to win it’s opening game. Additionally, six host schools failed to escape their respective regionals across the first weekend of the post-season. No one has handled the road challenge more effective than Oklahoma State. After cruising through the Clemson regional and taking down South Carolina in an extended trip through the Palmetto State, the ‘Pokes enter Omaha as the only club still unbeaten at 5-0 in tournament play.

›Entrance to Omaha came in “Grand” style. Multiple Grand Slams were responsible for helping secure College World Series berths. By now most everyone has seen perhaps the most epic finish to a Super Regional in NCAA Tournament history, a pinch-hit effort which erased the 3-0 deficit the Gauchos faced in the bottom of the ninth and handed the nationally seeded Louisville Cardinals only a third home loss on the year (two of which were back to back at the hands of UCSB). However, Sam Cohen’s thrilling swing of the bat was just one of three Grand Slams which propelled clubs forward over the weekend. Miami and Florida also maximized their offensive potential and pulled away from their opponent with one big base clearing cut. The Super Regional round also produced three walk-off winners. Coastal Carolina, Arizona and UC-Santa Barbara all used late inning drama to seal the deal. Whether bases full or empty, the home run ball has been more prevalent this year than in recent editions of the NCAA Tournament. With the entire CWS left to be played, teams have already clubbed over 50 more home runs than during the entirety of last year’s tournament. While the pitching friendly confines of the new ballpark in Omaha will certainly put this surge to the test, it is definately worth keeping in view.

›A Pair of in-state rivalries remain in effect. There is nothing quite like rivalry baseball. Close proximity for fan bases when it comes to Omaha often serves to raise the stakes to a whole new level. This year will be no different for baseball fans in the Lone Star State. TCU had to defeat national seed Texas A&M for a second straight year just to get back to Omaha. Now the Horned Frogs must battle their neighbors to the west, Big 12 regular season champion Texas Tech in their opening game of the CWS. Likewise, Florida went head to head with Florida State to punch the final return ticket into this year’s field. Let your eyes wander to the other side of the bracket for a moment, where Miami is hoping to stand in the way of the full season favorites. The experienced ‘Canes are making a 25th College World Series trip to close out their record 44th straight NCAA tourney appearance. Sunshine State fans with brackets in hand must already have visions of a Championship Series showdown between the lone remaining ACC and SEC schools for the title.

›Sixteen CWS Surprises for 2016. 1) Five National Seeds were dispensed in prior rounds. 2) Six of the seven highly regarded SEC host schools were defeated along the way. 3) Nine of ten ACC schools bowed out, leaving Miami alone to carry the conference banner. 4) Three Big 12 schools received bids to the NCAA tournament, each of these schools (Texas Tech-Regular Season Champs, TCU-Tournament Champs, and Oklahoma State-5-0 in post-season) have survived and advanced all the way to Omaha. 5) Neither Virginia nor Vanderbilt survived home regionals in an effort to set up an identical title match for a third straight year. 5) Road teams won six total Regionals and five of the eight Super Regionals. 6) Louisville lost more home games in the Super Regional round than the entire 2016 regular season. 7) Coastal Carolina and UCSB defeated CWS regulars LSU and #2 National Seed Louisville to earn their first ever trips to Omaha. 8) The Chanticleers as lone team from SC to make the World Series, no disrespect to the Chants, but regulars Clemson (a national seed) and South Carolina (a two time champion) both appeared in better position to return. 9) Texas Tech has already been forced to play three elimination games. 10) Oklahoma state returns to Omaha for the first time in nearly 20 years, a surprising drought for one of college baseball’s best programs. 11) Five of this year’s eight College World Series teams, including top overall seed Florida, are still in search of their first National Championship. 12) There are less than 10 National Championship combined between everyone in this year’s field (Arizona (4), Miami (4), Oklahoma State (1). 13) TCU, the lone team making it three straight years in Omaha, had never appeared in the College World Series prior to 2010. 14) Coastal Carolina is the most powerful team in the field by sheer HR numbers, hitting 40 more on the year than any other club still alive. 15) Arizona will carry the flag for the Pac 12 and west coast baseball by virtue of finding a way to pull off a stunning extra inning victory against SEC Regular Season Champion Mississippi State in the Supers after surviving the Regionals by coming through the elimination side of the bracket in Lafayette 16) It’s amazing how quickly 70 years of collegiate baseball championships have flown by with this edition of the College World Series marking the time. From the intimacy of Rosenblatt Stadium and the annual summer thrills the classic old ballpark regularly provided to the grandeur embodied in the Series’ new downtown home, the truest joy has always been found in discovering the further surprises which still lie ahead as a completion of this yearly journey.