# 1956 NCAA baseball season

The 1956 NCAA baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1956. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1956 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the tenth time in 1956, 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. Minnesota claimed the championship.

## Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1956 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. 12 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 13 teams earned at-large selections.
| Conference | Regular Season Winner |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | Duke |
| Big Seven Conference | Oklahoma |
| Big Ten Conference | Minnesota |
| CIBA | Southern California |
| EIBL | Yale |
| Mid-American Conference | Ohio |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Bradley |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington State |
| Southeastern Conference | Florida |
| Southern Conference | George Washington |
| Southwest Conference | TCU |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1956 Big Seven Conference baseball standings :
| 1956 Big Seven Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma ‍†‍‍$^y$ 7–2 .77811–7 .611 Nebraska ‍‍‍ 8–4 .66712–8 .600 Kansas ‍‍‍ 6–5 .54514–5 .737 Missouri ‍‍‍ 7–6 .53814–7 .667 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 6–6 .500– – Colorado ‍‍‍ 3–8 .273– – Kansas State ‍‍‍ 3–9 .2505–10 .333 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the 1956 NCAA baseball tournament | 1956 Big Ten Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Minnesota ‍†‍‍$^y$ 11–2–0 .84633–9–0 .786 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 9–3–0 .75018–7–0 .720 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 8–4–0 .66720–7–0 .741 Michigan ‍‍‍ 6–5–0 .54517–9–0 .654 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 6–7–0 .46210–8–0 .556 Indiana ‍‍‍ 5–6–0 .45513–15–0 .464 Iowa ‍‍‍ 5–8–0 .38511–16–0 .407 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 4–7–0 .36416–13–0 .552 Purdue ‍‍‍ 5–10–0 .33314–14–0 .500 Illinois ‍‍‍ 4–11–0 .26715–18–1 .456 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament | 1956 Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Yale ‍†‍‍ 9–2–0 .81819–15–0 .559 Princeton ‍‍‍ 7–3–0 .70011–9–1 .548 Columbia ‍‍‍ 6–3–0 .66711–5–1 .676 Cornell ‍‍‍ 5–4–0 .55610–8–0 .556 Harvard ‍‍‍ 5–4–0 .55618–6–0 .750 Army ‍‍‍ 4–4–0 .5009–10–0 .474 Navy ‍‍‍ 4–4–0 .50013–7–1 .643 Dartmouth ‍‍‍ 3–5–0 .3754–11–0 .267 Penn ‍‍‍ 1–7–0 .1258–16–0 .333 Brown ‍‍‍ 1–8–0 .1112–15–0 .118 † – Conference champion |
| 1956 Missouri Valley Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Bradley ‍†‍‡‍$^y$ 7–2 .77827–8 .771 Oklahoma A&M ‍‍‍ 7–2 .77811–10 .524 Saint Louis ‍‍‍ 6–3 .66713–6 .684 Houston ‍‍‍ 5–4 .55614–10 .583 Tulsa ‍‍‍ 5–4 .5568–12 .400 Detroit ‍‍‍ 4–5 .4449–11 .450 Wichita State ‍‍‍ 1–8 .1114–13 .235 Drake ‍‍‍ 1–8 .1114–13 .235 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1956 Rankings from Coaches' Poll | 1956 Pacific Coast Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT North Division Washington State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 11–3–0 .78628–8–0 .778 Oregon ‍‍‍ 8–5–0 .61518–8–0 .692 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 7–8–0 .46717–13–0 .567 Washington ‍‍‍ 5–9–0 .3575–11–0 .313 Idaho ‍‍‍ 4–9–0 .3080–0–0 – California Intercollegiate Baseball Association USC ‍†‍‍ 14–2–0 .87521–5–0 .808 California ‍‍‍ 9–7–0 .56325–9–0 .735 Stanford ‍‍‍ 9–7–0 .56324–10–1 .700 UCLA ‍‍‍ 5–11–0 .31311–21–2 .353 Santa Clara ‍‍‍ 3–13–0 .1886–22–0 .214 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament | 1956 Southeastern Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Florida ‍†‍‍$^y$ 13–3 .81320–4 .833 Ole Miss ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–3 .81324–10 .706 Alabama ‍‍‍ 15–5 .75018–7 .720 Georgia ‍‍‍ 10–5 .66716–7 .696 Auburn ‍‍‍ 9–7 .56312–11 .522 Tennessee ‍‍‍ 7–8 .46710–13 .435 LSU ‍‍‍ 7–9 .4389–11 .450 Tulane ‍‍‍ 7–9 .43811–11 .500 Mississippi State ‍‍‍ 6–9 .40011–9 .550 Georgia Tech ‍‍‍ 4–9 .30811–12 .478 Vanderbilt ‍‍‍ 3–12 .2006–15 .286 Kentucky ‍‍‍ 1–12 .0774–18 .182 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 18, 1956 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |
| 1956 Yankee Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT New Hampshire ‍†‍‍$^y$ 7–1–0 .87513–7–0 .650 UMass ‍‍‍$^y$ 7–1–1 .83310–6–1 .618 Vermont ‍‍‍$^y$ 1–3–0 .25018–6–0 .750 Connecticut ‍‍‍ 4–4–1 .5009–8–2 .526 Rhode Island ‍‍‍ 1–5–0 .16710–7–0 .588 Maine ‍‍‍ 0–6–0 .0007–11–1 .395 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1956 |

## College World Series

The 1956 season marked the tenth 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 Minnesota claiming their first championship with a 12–1 win over Arizona 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 | | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Arizona | Arizona | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| NYU | NYU | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| NYU | NYU | 0 | Arizona | Arizona | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Minnesota | Minnesota | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Minnesota | Minnesota | 4 | Minnesota | Minnesota | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | 0 | | | | Minnesota | Minnesota | 13 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 13 | | | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 5 | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 13 | | | | | | | Minnesota | Minnesota | 8 | | |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire | 2 | | | | | | | Minnesota | Minnesota | 8 | | |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire | 2 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 4 | | | | Bradley | Bradley | 3 | | |
| | | | Bradley | Bradley | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradley | Bradley | 4 | Bradley | Bradley | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Washington State | Washington State | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Minnesota | Minnesota | 4 | 12 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Arizona | Arizona | 10 | 1 |
| | | | | | | Bradley | Bradley | | | | | | 12 |
| | | | NYU | NYU | 2 | Wyoming | Wyoming | | | | | | 8 |
| | | | NYU | NYU | 2 | Wyoming | Wyoming | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 3 | | 8 |
| | | | Wyoming | Wyoming | 8 | | | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 3 | |
| | | | Wyoming | Wyoming | 8 | | | | Arizona | Arizona | 7 | |
| | | | | | | Arizona | Arizona | | Arizona | Arizona | 7 | 1 | |
| | | | New Hampshire | New Hampshire | 6 | New Hampshire | New Hampshire | | | | | 0 | |
| | | | Washington State | Washington State | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |