1972 NCAA University Division baseball season

The 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1972. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1972 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the 26th time in 1972, consisted of one team from each of eight geographical districts and was held in Omaha, Nebraska at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Southern California claimed the championship for the third year in a row, en route to five consecutive titles.

1972 NCAA University Division baseball season
Number of teams	211
NCAA tournament
College World Series
Champions	Southern California (8th title)
Runners-up	Arizona State (5th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Rod Dedeaux (8th title)
MOP	Russ McQueen (Southern California)
Seasons
← 1971 1973 →

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1972 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA tournament. 13 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 15 teams earned at-large selections.

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue • City	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Virginia	No tournament
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma	No tournament
Big Ten Conference	Iowa	No tournament
EIBL	Cornell Harvard	No tournament
Mid-American Conference	Bowling Green	No tournament
Pacific-8 Conference	North - Washington State/Oregon South - Southern California	No tournament
Southeastern Conference	Ole Miss	No tournament
Southern Conference	Richmond	No tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas TCU	No tournament
Western Athletic Conference	North - BYU South - Arizona State	1973 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Series	Provo, UT	Arizona State
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	No tournament

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1972 Big Eight Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Oklahoma  ‍†‍‍^y 12 – 8   .600 35 – 17   .673 Colorado  ‍‍‍ 10 – 8   .556 22 – 18   .550 Kansas  ‍‍‍ 11 – 9   .550 20 – 10   .667 Kansas State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 17 – 17   .500 Oklahoma State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 10   .500 15 – 17   .469 Missouri  ‍‍‍ 9 – 11   .450 16 – 16   .500 Nebraska  ‍‍‍ 8 – 11   .421 12 – 17   .414 Iowa State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 10   .412 13 – 18   .419 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1972 Big Ten Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 7 Iowa  ‍†‍‍^y 13 – 3 – 0   .813 25 – 17 – 0   .595 No. 22 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 4 – 0   .714 28 – 10 – 0   .737 Michigan  ‍‍‍ 9 – 5 – 0   .643 18 – 13 – 1   .578 Minnesota  ‍‍‍ 9 – 5 – 0   .643 15 – 13 – 0   .536 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 10 – 8 – 0   .556 17 – 14 – 0   .548 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 7 – 8 – 0   .467 20 – 22 – 0   .476 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 10 – 0   .375 11 – 25 – 0   .306 Illinois  ‍‍‍ 5 – 9 – 0   .357 16 – 21 – 0   .432 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 3 – 9 – 0   .250 11 – 18 – 0   .379 Indiana  ‍‍‍ 2 – 13 – 0   .133 11 – 24 – 0   .314 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1972 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern Division No. 25 Washington State ^x‍‍‍ 14 – 4   .778 29 – 13   .690 Oregon ‍‍‍ 14 – 4   .778 –   – Washington ‍‍‍ 5 – 12   .294 13 – 18   .419 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 2 – 15   .118 13 – 24   .351 Southern Division No. 1 Southern California ^x‍‍‍^y 14 – 4   .778 46 – 11   .807 No. 30 California ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 33 – 21   .611 No. 12 Stanford ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 37 – 17   .685 UCLA ‍‍‍ 4 – 14   .222 32 – 33   .492 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1972 Southeastern Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Eastern Division No. 28 Vanderbilt  ^x‍‍‍^y 13 – 3 – 0   .813 35 – 15 – 1   .696 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 7 – 6 – 0   .538 19 – 14 – 0   .576 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 7 – 6 – 0   .538 18 – 17 – 0   .514 Florida  ‍‍‍ 7 – 7 – 0   .500 23 – 21 – 0   .523 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 4 – 8 – 0   .333 16 – 10 – 1   .611 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 4 – 12 – 0   .250 12 – 22 – 0   .353 Western Division No. 8 Ole Miss  ^x‍‍‡‍^y 15 – 3 – 0   .833 28 – 16 – 0   .636 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389 21 – 14 – 1   .597 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389 24 – 16 – 0   .600 LSU  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389 21 – 21 – 0   .500 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1972 Southern Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Richmond  ‍†‍‍^y 8 – 5   .615 16 – 8   .667 East Carolina  ‍‍‍ 10 – 4   .714 16 – 8   .667 Furman  ‍‍‍ 6 – 6   .500 16 – 15   .516 The Citadel  ‍‍‍ 8 – 5   .615 16 – 8   .667 Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 3   .786 14 – 10   .583 William & Mary  ‍‍‍ 5 – 6   .455 11 – 15   .423 Davidson  ‍‍‍ 1 – 10   .091 8 – 15   .348 VMI  ‍‍‍ 0 – 10   .000 3 – 14   .176 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1972 Southwest Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Texas  ‍†‍‍^y 12 – 6   .667 50 – 9   .847 No. 27 TCU  ‍†‍‍ 12 – 6   .667 29 – 13   .690 Rice  ‍‍‍ 11 – 7   .611 19 – 12   .613 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 10 – 8   .556 27 – 11   .711 SMU  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 22 – 30   .423 Texas Tech  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 23 – 19   .548 Baylor  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 20 – 20   .500 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1972 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern BYU  ^x‍‍‍ 12 – 6   .667 59 – 8   .881 Colorado State  ‍‍‍ 12 – 6   .667 20 – 20   .500 Wyoming  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10   .444 18 – 29   .383 Utah  ‍‍‍ 4 – 14   .222 21 – 28   .429 Southern No. 2 Arizona State ^x‡y ‍‍‍ 18 – 0   1.000 64 – 6   .914 Arizona  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 38 – 20   .655 New Mexico  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10   .444 29 – 14   .674 UTEP  ‍‍‍ 1 – 17   .056 12 – 39   .235 x – Division champion ‡ – Championship series champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1972 Yankee Conference baseball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Connecticut  ‍†‍‍^y 12 – 0   1.000 20 – 7   .741 Maine  ‍‍‍ 8 – 4   .667 20 – 7   .741 UMass  ‍‍‍ 8 – 4   .667 16 – 5   .762 New Hampshire  ‍‍‍ 6 – 6   .500 –   – Rhode Island  ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417 7 – 11   .389 Holy Cross  ‍‍‍ 3 – 9   .250 5 – 21   .192 Boston University  ‍‍‍ 0 – 12   .000 2 – 22   .083 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

The 1972 season marked the twenty sixth NCAA baseball tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Southern California claiming their eighth championship, and third in a row, with a 1–0 win over Arizona State in the final.

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	Ole Miss		6
	Southern California		8
						Southern California		5^11
						Connecticut		4
	Texas		0
	Connecticut		3^10
											Southern California		0
											Arizona State		3
	Temple		1
																Arizona State		1
	Oklahoma		2^13
						Oklahoma		0								Temple		0
						Arizona State		1
	Iowa		1
	Arizona State		2
																					Arizona State		1	0
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Southern California		3	1
											Texas		7
						Ole Miss		8			Oklahoma		1
																Texas		3
						Texas		9
																Southern California		4^10
											Temple		7
						Temple		13			Connecticut		4
						Iowa		9

Award winners

All-America team