Fire up the Zesto’s. Stock up on Jell-O and little plastic cups. Scrounge up some T-shirt money.

And get ready for a few trips around the base paths of our memories.

The 75th Road to Omaha is here. It’s already a big one.

For the next three weeks, we are going to relive the stories and superstars and the big games and all the emotions that Omaha has shared with the world since 1950. We have good stuff planned at The World-Herald.

In the spirit of nostalgia, what would be your perfect College World Series field this year? Use the 2025 NCAA tournament field. Yes, include Creighton and Nebraska, since those were two of the historic years around here.

Here’s mine: Creighton, Nebraska, USC, Texas, LSU, Miami, Florida State and Arkansas (Dave Van Horn factor).

Now, back to reality. I hate to do it, but I’m going chalk this year. I love to pick upsets and stories, but this year I don’t see the depth of teams that could shake up the bracket. Talent and home fields will prevail. Is that NIL and the portal talking?

My picks: Vanderbilt, FSU, North Carolina, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Texas.

That’s only six SEC teams. Must be a down year.

Nebraska in the regional round

Could Nebraska make some noise in Chapel Hill? Yes.

The Huskers just knocked off two host schools on back-to-back days in Omaha.

But this is a NU team that almost lost to Michigan State.

Is the pitching depth there to win a regional?

Creighton vs. Kansas

Interesting tidbit on Creighton and Kansas: they didn’t play this season.

Given Arkansas’ standing, CU and KU will probably have to play twice this weekend.

The Hogs haven’t won a regional since 2022. But this might be Van Horn’s most complete team.

This is a tall ask for the Jays.

NCAA's message to the Big East

The NCAA committee sent a clear message to the Big East. I don’t know what the answer is for the league.

Xavier and Connecticut both played several power league teams in the nonconference.

You can’t control which of those will be “Quad 1” teams. And there is immense pressure to win those games and you’re playing them early in the season, when northern teams haven’t been outside long. Good luck.

Given that UConn and Xavier both had higher RPI’s than Creighton, I would say it’s a very good thing the Jays won the Big East tournament.

Nebraska had to win the Big Ten

Ditto for Nebraska. If UCLA or Oregon had won the Big Ten tournament, there would have been only three Big Ten teams in.

It’s a one-year sample. But you can see the future: the league is not going to get more than three or four bids and if the west coast takes up those spots, that doesn’t leave much for the rest of the league.

Better schedule up in March and win those games.

And, win in Omaha.

Regional baseball conferences?

I’m loving the idea of a regional baseball conference, with Nebraska and Creighton and assorted teams in the Midwest like KU, Kansas State, Wichita State, Iowa, Missouri, etc.

Given the state of Big East and Big Ten baseball, I wonder what Creighton and Nebraska officials would think about that.

No Big 12 regional hosts

No regional hosts for the Big 12 is a little surprising.

Clearly, the Big Ten got the better end of the Pac-12 schools in baseball.

Changing the regional format

This is my annual push for the NCAA to go to three weekends of two-team regionals before the CWS — allowing schools in the north and east to host the first round.

Since that might eliminate conference tournaments, that’s probably not a popular sentiment around here this year.

UCLA's impression on Big Ten baseball

“It has a chance to be really good. It has really good coaches and players. There’s going to be a lot of big leaguers coming out of this year’s rosters. I’m a big fan of it. We clearly didn’t waltz through anything. I’m very, very high on the future.”

I don’t know, he didn’t sound convincing to me.

Nebraska softball season ends

Nebraska softball had a good year with Jordy Bahl in Lincoln.

But now the goal should be to get a top eight national seed next year and host through the supers.

I would think Nebraska would be a very popular option in the portal, with a chance to go to the WCWS in Bahl’s final year.

Ed Servais gets a grand send-off

How about Marcus Blossom?

The Creighton athletic director rolled the dice — and took some flack — by having Ed Servais and Mark Kingston both coach a veteran team this year.

Blossom wanted to give Servais one last lap. Everyone handled it perfectly.

Servais got a grand send-off, Kingston has momentum and the players are in a regional. Brilliant.

Jac Caglianone joins Omaha Storm Chasers

The right field berm at Werner Park will be a popular place this week as the Storm Chasers return home with a new face: Jac Caglianone.

Caglianone is no stranger to Omaha. He played with Florida in last year’s CWS before getting picked sixth overall by Kansas City. He moved up to Triple-A last week and hit five home runs in four games — one in each game. He's become a quick box office smash, literally.

Better back up in right field. Three of Caglianone’s homers last week in Salt Lake City measured 410, 431 and 459 feet.

If you want to see the next big thing in K.C., my guess is Caglianone will be here through June. But I wouldn’t wait until after the All-Star break.

One more and I’m outta here

It was hard not to get emotional hearing NU coach Will Bolt and broadcasters Ben McLaughlin and Nick Handley talk about the presence of the late Greg Sharpe at Schwab Field last week.

Specifically, the play in right field against Michigan State that kept NU’s rally going.

An angel in the outfield?