Omaha, Neb. ? Nebraska baseball fans wouldn’t mind getting used to this.

The Cornhuskers are back in the College World Series for the second straight year, and fans and retailers are loving it.

“It’s fun to see the state united over something besides football,” said Scott Strunc, owner of Husker Hounds memorabilia store in Omaha.

It will mark only the third time that a team from Nebraska has played in the CWS, which has been held in Omaha for 53 years. Besides Nebraska’s first appearance last year, Creighton did it in 1991.

“It’s kind of uncharted waters for Nebraska, being a baseball power,” Strunc said.

Noting a hometown atmosphere at college baseball’s championships series, Omaha mayor Mike Fahey on Monday did not forget to mention the Nebraska baseball team.

“This is especially important because one visiting team will be coming from only 60 miles away,” Fahey said while outlining events at the series, which will hold its opening ceremonies Thursday evening with the first game set for Friday.

Nebraska, known more for its national title football teams, defeated Richmond on Sunday in the super regionals at Haymarket Park in Lincoln.

The Huskers (47-19) will play Clemson (52-15) at 6 p.m. Friday in the first round of the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium. They will either play Georgia Tech (51-14) or South Carolina (53-16) on Sunday.

Nebraska’s appearance has many retailers in the state seeing dollar signs in the form of shirts, caps and anything else that says Huskers.

“I think it’s a whole new ballgame having Nebraska in. It’s a whole new, little business,” said Lucy Smith, manager of Allmerica, a sports apparel store that opened in Omaha’s Old Market district specifically for the series.

About five people waited in line before Stunc’s Husker Hounds store opened Monday. Last year, more than 100 people waited to buy the first Husker-related baseball T-shirts and jerseys when Nebraska won its way into the series.

“Last year was nuts,” Strunc said. “This year, it’s more steady than overwhelming.”

Dennis Poppe, director of baseball and football for the NCAA, said Nebraska’s entry obviously will mean more Cornhusker red in the stands. That created a problem last year when Nebraska was quickly eliminated from the tournament and seats took longer to fill, Poppe said.

“I’ve seen a change in more Husker fans than just College World Series fans,” Poppe said. “What I ask those Husker fans to do is come to the other games, too.”

Opening ceremonies for this year’s series Thursday will include Olympic-style entries of the eight teams, a home-run derby, U.S. Air Force precision parachutists and fireworks.

The first game will be played Friday afternoon between Georgia Tech and South Carolina.