The 1972 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its twenty-sixth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 28 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The twenty-sixth tournament's champion was Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Russ McQueen of the University of Southern California.

Regionals The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between two and six teams. The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner.

District 1 at Storrs, CT

District 2 at Princeton, NJ

District 3 at Gastonia, NC

District 4 at Bowling Green, OH

District 5 at Tulsa, OK

District 6 at San Antonio, TX

District 7 at Mesa, AZ

District 8 at Santa Clara, CA & Santa Barbara, CA

College World Series

Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach CWS appearances CWS best finish CWS record Arizona State WAC 60–4 (18–0) Jim Brock 4(last: 1969) 1st(1965, 1967, 1969) 16–5 Connecticut Yankee 19–5 (12–0) Larry Panciera 3(last: 1965) 5th(1957) 2–6 Iowa Big 10 25–15 (13–3) Duane Banks 0(last: none) none 0–0 Ole Miss SEC 28–14 (15–3) Jake Gibbs 3(last: 1969) 4th(1956) 3–6 Oklahoma Big 8 34–15 (12–8) Enos Semore 1(last: 1951) 1st(1951) 4–0 Southern California Pac-8 42–12–1 (14–4) Rod Dedeaux 13(last: 1971) 1st(1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971) 43–17 Middle Atlantic 31–13 (10–1) Skip Wilson 0(last: none) none 0–0 Texas SWC 38–7 (12–6) Cliff Gustafson 13(last: 1970) 1st(1949, 1950) 26–23

Results

Bracket

Game results

Date Game Winner Score Loser Notes June 9 Game 1 Southern California 8–6 Ole Miss Game 2 Connecticut 3–0 (10 innings) Texas June 10 Game 3 Oklahoma 2–1 (13 innings) Game 4 Arizona State 2–1 Iowa Game 5 Texas 9–8 Ole Miss Ole Miss eliminated June 11 Game 6 13–9 Iowa Iowa eliminated Game 7 Southern California 5–4 (11 innings) Connecticut Game 8 Arizona State 1–0 Oklahoma June 12 Game 9 7–4 Connecticut Connecticut eliminated Game 10 Texas 7–1 Oklahoma Oklahoma eliminated Game 11 Arizona State 3–0 Southern California June 14 Game 12 Southern California 4–3 (10 innings) Texas Texas eliminated Game 13 Arizona State 1–0 Temple eliminated June 15 Game 14 Southern California 3–1 Arizona State June 16 Final Southern California 1–0 Arizona State Southern California wins CWS

All-Tournament Team The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position Player School P Russ McQueen (MOP) USC Craig Swan Arizona State C Sam Ceci USC 1B Daryl Arenstein USC 2B Ken Reed Arizona State 3B David Chalk Texas SS Steve Dillard Ole Miss OF Gary Atwell Arizona State Tim Steele USC Bump Wills Arizona State

Notable players Arizona State: Eddie Bane, Alan Bannister, Jim Crawford, Jim Otten, Craig Swan, Jim Umbarger, Bump Wills Connecticut: Ed Harvey, Brian Herosian Iowa: Jim Sundberg Ole Miss: Steve Dillard Oklahoma: Joe Simpson, Jackson Todd Southern California: Fred Lynn, Ed Putman, Randy Scarbery, Roy Smalley Temple: Joe Kerrigan Texas: Dave Chalk, Bobby Cuellar, Ken Pape

Tournament Notes Southern California becomes the first team to win three consecutive College World Series.

See also 1972 NCAA College Division baseball tournament 1972 NAIA World Series

References