OMAHA, Neb -- Jim Morris can stop checking the Pirates box score. Mike Martin will continue to end his day asking a higher power for a national championship. And the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has every reason to congratulate itself for a job well done.

What a tournament! First 64 was trimmed to 16, 16 to eight and finally eight to one national champion: The University of Miami, taken to the limit by Florida State in a 6-5 thriller.

The committee took on the responsibility of expanding the field to 64 teams, picking 16 sites and seeding eight teams from the very beginning.

Hurricanes celebrate 1999 NCAA Championship. Jefferson Steel/Total Sports

All eight seeds survived the four-team regionals, while new sites like Columbus, Ohio, thrived when given the chance to host postseason baseball.

The Super Regionals provided drama, matching great programs in do-or-die three-game series for CWS berths. Seven of the eight seeds emerged to Omaha, feeling more than ever before that they earned their spots in the field.

And as the announcement came Friday that the CWS will remain in Omaha and storied Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, second-seed Florida State was eliminating Stanford in 13 innings, 14-11, in a game that will take a place on the shelf with other CWS classics.

The newest championship coach expressed what seems to be universal among college baseball folks.

"I can't say how excited I am being able to win in front of a great crowd with great fans," Miami coach Morris said about Omaha after the championship game. "I understand they just signed a new contract to keep the College World Series in Omaha. I can't imagine having the College World Series anywhere else."

For Morris, the championship was not only a culmination but also an exorcism. In 1996, he took the Hurricanes to the ninth inning of the championship game with a one-run lead, only to see Louisiana State's Warren Morris hit a two-out, two-run, season-crushing home run.

Jim Morris said before the CWS that he checks the Major League box scores every morning to keep track of his former players from Georgia Tech and Miami, which probably starts with the Red Sox and Nomar Garciaparra.

The last box he scans is the Pirates' game. Pittsburgh's second baseman is Warren Morris. Maybe that will change now. Maybe he stops checking on the Pirates. Maybe he will stop hearing from friends, family and fans about 1996. He can smile about it now. He has his.

It even crept into his head as Michael Neu held the ball, bearing down on Kevin Cash with two outs in the top of the ninth.

"I must admit it did cross my mind," Morris said of being one out away in 1996. "I wasn't designing a ring or anything in the dugout. I was wanting a strikeout. I did remember what happened and I did have a flashback."

For Martin, the flashbacks must be piling up. He is a class individual who adds color to the College World Series with his familiar high-pitched drawl and his penchant for wearing his heart on his sleeve. He says he ends every night praying for a national championship.

His "I want to play tomorrow" edict to his team shown on television might be the most memorable moment of the series as he fired up his tired troops in the clubhouse before the epic comeback win vs. Stanford, completing a trek from the loser's bracket to the championship game.

He is 0-for-11 in Omaha now, even with a Florida State team he admitted was designed to win at Rosenblatt. Pitching and power as opposed to the Martin trademark of pitching and defense. Martin will keep coming back, and everyone involved will be better for it. And some year soon, his Saturday night dinner will be complete with a championship toast.

But in 1999 it was his arch-rival, the team from downstate with whom he shares a competitive rivalry and a mutual respect that got the best of his Seminoles this time.

"For Miami to get to the College World Series six straight years is unbelievable," he said after the final game.

"And to be in to be in the championship two times is tremendous. So much goes into winning it. They've had to overcome some big injuries this year. They are the best."

And to be the best, one has to beat the best. Miami's road as the No. 1 seed went through the second-seeded Seminoles. And a one-run final game, too.