OMAHA, Neb. -- Stanford and Rice have gone to the top of the class, on the field and off.

Not only are they the College World Series finalists, they boast excellent reputations in academics, too.

"This is something the presidents like to see,'' Dennis Poppe, the director of the baseball championship, told Rice coach Wayne Graham on Friday.

Graham said it was a special tribute to the players, who are challenged both in school and on the field.

"There have been cases in college athletics where emphasis has been put on just athletics, and the classroom is neglected,'' Rice outfielder Chris Kolkhorst said. "Having two teams like Rice and Stanford here is great for college baseball and great for college athletics.

"Coach Graham does a great job, he really takes pride in our team GPA and he has to get on some of us at the end of semesters if we're not living up to the standards we've set.''

The same standards are kept at Stanford.

"It's something we definitely take pride in,'' Cardinal pitcher John Hudgins said. "Every one of our guys graduate. We all work hard to get ahead in school. And Coach Marquess really pushes us academically, going over classes every quarter with us and trying to get us through just because baseball isn't the end of life.

"Both institutions here definitely realize that. It's a great thing. It's what college athletics is all about. You get a college degree and you get to play.''

Graham Knows Championships
Rice coach Wayne Graham knows about national championships. He's won five of them.

The 67-year-old coach won all those titles while at San Jacinto Community College in Texas. He coached there for 11 years after a successful high school career. He won his last national junior college title at San Jacinto in 1990, after earning 62 victories that season. Two years later, he took over at Rice.

Graham has had 30 consecutive winning seasons on the high school, junior college and Division I levels -- winning nearly 80 percent of his games. He passed the 500-career win mark this season in his 12th year at Rice and enters the championship series with 533 victories.

At Rice, he won 43 games and qualified for regionals his fourth season. He won the Southwestern Conference tournament and qualified for regionals again the next season. He made his first College World Series appearance with the Owls in 1997.

In 1999, Graham made a return trip to the CWS and earned Rice's first win in Omaha. Rice was back last year but went home following two early losses.

The Owls have never won a national title of any kind. They are in the baseball finals for the first time.

Star power
Fans visiting the College World Series can make their own game-winning plays just outside Rosenblatt Stadium.

NCAA Beyond the Game, an interactive site sponsored by CBS Sports, provides a sporting challenge for fans in six tents. Some 6,000 to 7,000 fans have stepped up for the challenges each day of the College World Series, site manager Dave Adcox said.

Fans are able to step into live NCAA athletic situations, trying to duplicate plays that made many college athletes famous.

The baseball tent features an outfield fence similar to those of Rosenblatt Stadium. A pitching machine lobs a ball toward the top of the fence, giving the fan a chance to make a home-run stealing catch.

Adcox said the tents also are intended to let fans know there is more to NCAA athletics than just football, basketball and baseball. Lacrosse and crew are among the activities.

"There are 23 NCAA sports,'' he said.