Rebels will face perennial-power Hurricanes beginning Saturday in Oxford.

OXFORD – The Road to Omaha will run right through Oxford.

What had been expected since Nebraska’s early exit from the NCAA Regionals became official on Monday when the Rebels (43-20) earned an NCAA Super Regional at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

Ole Miss will host Miami in a best-of-three series starting on Saturday. Game times and television schedules were announced this morning. The winner of the series advances to the College World Series, which runs June 16-26 in Omaha, Neb.

&#8220It’s definitely big to be able to play here,” Ole Miss second baseman Justin Henry said. &#8220The crowd here has been phenomenal.”

This will mark the second straight year the Rebels have earned a Super Regional berth. They lost to eventual national champion Texas in last year’s Super Regional in Oxford.

&#8220We are excited to host our second-straight super regional,” Rebels coach Mike Bianco said. &#8220It’s a tremendous accomplishment and has certainly been one of our goals this season. To host back-to-back super regionals and three-straight Regionals says a lot about where we are as a program.”

The Rebels earned a Super Regional berth after Nebraska, the No. 6 national seed which would have hosted Ole Miss, was elminiated in two games by Manhattan and San Francisco.

Miami, which won the Lincoln Regional, but did not put in a bid to host because of stadium issues.

That certainly is not the case for Ole Miss, which has turned baseball-batty over the past several years. The Oxford Regional had the highest overall attendance of any of the 16 regionals this past weekend. For Ole Miss games, the crowds exceeded 7,000 each day.

&#8220This is the best place we have been without a doubt,” said Bethune Cookman College coach Mervlyn Melendez after his Wildcats were eliminated on Saturday. &#8220The hospitality we have gotten here and the respect we’ve been shown has been awesome. This is the seventh regional we have been to and this is by far the best.”

It can also be a daunting task for opponents to win in Oxford.

The main concourse has an announced seating capacity of slightly more than 3,000, but fans cram into the hillside and beyond the outfield fence shoulder-to-shoulder, arriving as early as six hours before game time to secure the best seat.

The Hurricanes, though, are no strangers to big games in hostile atmospheres.

The Hurricanes have won 13 consecutive regional titles and are in their NCAA-record 34th consecutive postseason appearance.

Miami has won the College World Series four times.

&#8220It seems like they are in Omaha every year,” said Henry, a Vicksburg High graduate. &#8220They obviously have another great team this year.

&#8220There is no easy way to Omaha, you have to beat someone good to get there.”