# 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 twenty sixth 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.

## 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 | No tournament | No tournament |
| Big Eight Conference | Oklahoma | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Iowa | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| EIBL | Cornell Harvard | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Mid-American Conference | Bowling Green | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Pacific-8 Conference | North - Washington State/Oregon South - Southern California | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Ole Miss | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southern Conference | Richmond | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas TCU | No tournament | No tournament | 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 | No tournament | No tournament |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1972 Big Ten Conference baseball standings :
| 1972 Big Ten Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 7 Iowa ‍†‍‍$^y$ 13–3–0 .81325–17–0 .595 No. 22 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 10–4–0 .71428–10–0 .737 Michigan ‍‍‍ 9–5–0 .64318–13–1 .578 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 9–5–0 .64315–13–0 .536 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 10–8–0 .55617–14–0 .548 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 7–8–0 .46720–22–0 .476 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .37511–25–0 .306 Illinois ‍‍‍ 5–9–0 .35716–21–0 .432 Purdue ‍‍‍ 3–9–0 .25011–18–0 .379 Indiana ‍‍‍ 2–13–0 .13311–24–0 .314 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1972 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern Division No. 25 Washington State $^x$‍‍‍ 14–4 .77829–13 .690 Oregon ‍‍‍ 14–4 .778– – Washington ‍‍‍ 5–12 .29413–18 .419 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 2–15 .11813–24 .351 Southern Division No. 1 Southern California $^x$‍‍‍$^y$ 14–4 .77846–11 .807 No. 30 California ‍‍‍ 9–9 .50033–21 .611 No. 12 Stanford ‍‍‍ 9–9 .50037–17 .685 UCLA ‍‍‍ 4–14 .22232–33 .492 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1972 Southeastern Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Eastern Division No. 28 Vanderbilt $^x$‍‍‍$^y$ 13–3–0 .81335–15–1 .696 Tennessee ‍‍‍ 7–6–0 .53819–14–0 .576 Auburn ‍‍‍ 7–6–0 .53818–17–0 .514 Florida ‍‍‍ 7–7–0 .50023–21–0 .523 Kentucky ‍‍‍ 4–8–0 .33316–10–1 .611 Georgia ‍‍‍ 4–12–0 .25012–22–0 .353 Western Division No. 8 Ole Miss $^x$‍‍‡‍$^y$ 15–3–0 .83328–16–0 .636 Alabama ‍‍‍ 7–11–0 .38921–14–1 .597 Mississippi State ‍‍‍ 7–11–0 .38924–16–0 .600 LSU ‍‍‍ 7–11–0 .38921–21–0 .500 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1972 Southwest Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 4 Texas ‍†‍‍$^y$ 12–6 .66750–9 .847 No. 27 TCU ‍†‍‍ 12–6 .66729–13 .690 Rice ‍‍‍ 11–7 .61119–12 .613 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 10–8 .55627–11 .711 SMU ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33322–30 .423 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33323–19 .548 Baylor ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33320–20 .500 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1972 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1972 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern BYU $^x$‍‍‍ 12–6 .66759–8 .881 Colorado State ‍‍‍ 12–6 .66720–20 .500 Wyoming ‍‍‍ 8–10 .44418–29 .383 Utah ‍‍‍ 4–14 .22221–28 .429 Southern No. 2 Arizona State $^{x‡y}$ ‍‍‍ 18–0 1.00064–6 .914 Arizona ‍‍‍ 9–9 .50038–20 .655 New Mexico ‍‍‍ 8–10 .44429–14 .674 UTEP ‍‍‍ 1–17 .05612–39 .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 vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 6 Connecticut ‍†‍‍$^y$ 12–0 1.00020–7 .741 Maine ‍‍‍ 8–4 .66720–7 .741 UMass ‍‍‍ 8–4 .66716–5 .762 New Hampshire ‍‍‍ 6–6 .500– – Rhode Island ‍‍‍ 5–7 .4177–11 .389 Holy Cross ‍‍‍ 3–9 .2505–21 .192 Boston University ‍‍‍ 0–12 .0002–22 .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 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 |
| Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 8 | Southern California | Southern California | 5$^{11}$ | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Connecticut | Connecticut | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Texas | Texas | 0 | Connecticut | Connecticut | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Connecticut | Connecticut | 3$^{10}$ | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Connecticut | Connecticut | 3$^{10}$ | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 0 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Temple | Temple | 1 | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 3 | | | | | |
| Temple | Temple | 1 | | | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 1 | | |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 2$^{13}$ | | | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 1 | | |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 2$^{13}$ | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 0 | | | | Temple | Temple | 0 | | |
| | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Iowa | Iowa | 1 | Arizona State | Arizona State | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Arizona State | Arizona State | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 1 | 0 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 3 | 1 |
| | | | | | | Texas | Texas | | | | | | 7 |
| | | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 8 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | | | | | | 1 |
| | | | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | 8 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | | Texas | Texas | 3 | | 1 |
| | | | Texas | Texas | 9 | | | | Texas | Texas | 3 | |
| | | | Texas | Texas | 9 | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 4$^{10}$ | |
| | | | | | | Temple | Temple | | Southern California | Southern California | 4$^{10}$ | 7 | |
| | | | Temple | Temple | 13 | Connecticut | Connecticut | | | | | 4 | |
| | | | Iowa | Iowa | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |