# 1966 NCAA University Division baseball season

The 1966 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 1966. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1965 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the twentieth time in 1966, 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. Ohio State claimed the championship.

## Season headlines

* March 7 – Tulane's Stephen Martin became the first African American to play a varsity sport in the Southeastern Conference, debuting in the Green Wave's season opener against Spring Hill. In later years, Martin would be overlooked as an SEC integration pioneer because he was a walk-on and Tulane left the SEC immediately after the 1966 season.

## Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1966 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA tournament. 11 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 17 teams earned at-large selections.
| Conference | Regular season winner |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | North Carolina |
| Big Eight Conference | Oklahoma State |
| Big Ten Conference | Ohio State |
| CIBA | Southern California |
| EIBL | Army |
| Mid-American Conference | Western Michigan |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington State |
| Southeastern Conference | Mississippi State |
| Southern Conference | East Carolina |
| Southwest Conference | Texas Baylor Texas A&M TCU |
| Western Athletic Conference | Arizona |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1966 Athletic Association of Western Universities baseball standings :
| 1966 Athletic Association of Western Universities baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT North Division No. 11 Washington State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 15–1–0 .93835–8–1 .807 Oregon ‍‍‍ 8–9–0 .47121–18–0 .538 Washington ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .37520–16–0 .556 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 4–13–0 .23518–17–0 .514 California Intercollegiate Baseball Association No. 3 USC ‍†‍‍$^y$ 16–4–0 .80042–9–0 .824 California ‍‍‍ 12–8–0 .60032–14–0 .696 Stanford ‍‍‍ 12–8–0 .60026–12–2 .675 Santa Clara ‍‍‍ 11–9–0 .55027–17–0 .614 UCLA ‍‍‍ 10–10–0 .50035–24–0 .593 UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍ 6–14–0 .30015–27–0 .357 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1966 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 7 North Carolina ‍†‍‍$^y$ 12–2–0 .85721–13–0 .618 No. 24 Clemson ‍‍‍ 9–4–0 .69220–7–2 .724 NC State ‍‍‍ 7–7–0 .50011–12–2 .480 South Carolina ‍‍‍ 7–7–0 .50015–8–0 .652 Wake Forest ‍‍‍ 7–7–0 .50012–12–0 .500 Maryland ‍‍‍ 6–8–0 .42911–12–0 .478 Duke ‍‍‍ 4–9–0 .3088–16–0 .333 Virginia ‍‍‍ 3–11–0 .2146–19–0 .240 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1966 Big Eight Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 2 Oklahoma State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 13–7 .65021–11 .656 Oklahoma ‍‍‍ 11–6 .64713–11 .542 Nebraska ‍‍‍ 12–8 .60016–9 .640 Kansas State ‍‍‍ 10–10 .50019–14 .576 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 8–8 .5009–11 .450 Missouri ‍‍‍ 9–9 .50013–12 .520 Colorado ‍‍‍ 9–12 .42914–13 .519 Kansas ‍‍‍ 3–15 .1678–17 .320 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1966 Big Ten Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 1 Ohio State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 6–0–0 1.00027–6–1 .809 No. 16 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 11–2–0 .84627–10–2 .718 No. 21 Michigan ‍‍‍ 10–3–0 .76922–11–0 .667 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 8–5–0 .61524–13–0 .649 Indiana ‍‍‍ 6–5–0 .54517–15–0 .531 Illinois ‍‍‍ 5–7–0 .41714–14–0 .500 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 6–9–0 .4009–18–0 .333 Iowa ‍‍‍ 4–7–0 .36414–15–0 .483 Purdue ‍‍‍ 2–9–0 .1829–14–0 .391 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 2–13–0 .1337–21–3 .274 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1966 Southwest Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 6 Texas ‍†‍‍$^y$ 9–6–0 .60024–9–2 .714 Baylor ‍†‍‍ 9–6–0 .60018–10–0 .643 Texas A&M ‍†‍‍ 9–6–0 .60020–8–0 .714 TCU ‍†‍‍ 9–6–0 .60021–9–0 .700 Rice ‍‍‍ 5–10–0 .33314–11–0 .560 SMU ‍‍‍ 4–11–0 .26711–16–0 .407 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1966 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern Wyoming ‍‍‍ 7–5 .58326–25 .510 BYU ‍‍‍ 6–6 .50022–16 .579 Utah ‍‍‍ 5–7 .41719–20 .487 Southern No. 5 Arizona ‍†‍‍$^y$ 8–4 .66740–15 .727 No. 17 Arizona State ‍‍‍ 7–5 .58341–11 .788 New Mexico ‍‍‍ 3–9 .25023–17 .575 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1966 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |

## College World Series

The 1966 season marked the twentieth 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 Ohio State claiming their first championship with an 8–2 win over Oklahoma State in the final.
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 1 | Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper round 2 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Upper final | Upper final | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Final | Final | Final |
| Texas | Texas | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arizona | Arizona | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arizona | Arizona | 1 | Texas | Texas | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. John's | St. John's | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. John's | St. John's | 5 | St. John's | St. John's | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northeastern | Northeastern | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northeastern | Northeastern | 3 | | | | St. John's | St. John's | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 6 | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 8 | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 6 | | | | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 1 | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | North Carolina | 2 | | | | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 1 | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | North Carolina | 2 | Southern California | Southern California | 2 | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 5 | | | | | | |
| | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ohio State | Ohio State | 4 | Ohio State | Ohio State | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 8 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ohio State | Ohio State | 1 | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | 2 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | | | | | | 8 | | | | | |
| | | | Arizona | Arizona | 8 | Arizona | Arizona | | | | | | 4 | | | | | |
| | | | Arizona | Arizona | 8 | Arizona | Arizona | | St. John's | St. John's | 1 | | 4 | | | | | |
| | | | Northeastern | Northeastern | 1 | | | | St. John's | St. John's | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Northeastern | Northeastern | 1 | | | | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Texas | Texas | | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | 6 | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 1 | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | | | | | 6 | | | | | | |
| | | | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |