OMAHA, Neb. — Cal State Fullerton fans are used to making the trip here for the postseason to follow their team.

But usually it's the College World Series they are attending and the Fullerton baseball team they are following.

Fullerton has made 15 appearances here in the CWS and won four national titles.

Now, the Titans are hoping some karma from the successful baseball program rubs off on the men's basketball team, which opens play in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Thursday against the University of Wisconsin.

They apparently even have the same bus driver who drives around the baseball team.

"We made sure we got the same one that drives our baseball team, so he can give us a little bit of luck on that one," Fullerton coach Bob Burton said. "We'll be more successful, to be very honest, if we get the same bus driver to take Wisconsin's team and maybe send them in a different direction and maybe not show up."

Burton is honest when it comes to his team's place in the school's sports hierarchy.

"I'm a huge baseball fan," he said. "I don't think there's a coach here who's more proud of our baseball team than I am. They've been a great help to me and this program and getting it started.

"We all really work together and it's really fun to have a great tradition like they have. We're nothing like the baseball program. The baseball program can win the national championship every year, we're going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 30 (years). Believe me, I understand where we stand on that whole thing."

Coach respects Ryan

Burton talked admiringly about UW coach Bo Ryan.

Part of it is that Ryan spent a long time as an assistant coach and coaching at the Division III level before finally getting his shot as a head coach in Division I. Burton's background includes 10 years as a high school coach and 20 years at the junior college level.

"As a fan, I've always rooted for Wisconsin; the coach, I've rooted for, because I like him so much, and I love their style and the way they play," Burton said. "I think No. 1, the coach is a real star here."

Burton made a point of emphasizing to his players how well the Badgers play as a team.

"We told our players (Monday), 'Wisconsin is doing, has done all year, what you're doing right now, and that's playing like a team,' " he said.

It's a big deal

Burton joked after his team qualified for the NCAA tournament, he heard from a college roommate he hadn't seen in 25 years, who thought Burton was dead.

That was an exaggeration, but that's the kind of whirlwind that hits a small program like Fullerton, when it reaches the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history.

"I don't know what it's like to go through this," Burton said. "I'm sure Wisconsin has a feel on it, but we've never, ever seen a response like this."