# 1978 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1978 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1978. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1978 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the thirty-second time in 1978, consisted of one team from each of eight regional competitions and was held in Omaha, Nebraska at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Southern California claimed the championship for the eleventh time.

## Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1978 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Seven regionals of four teams and one of six each competed in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. 21 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 13 teams earned at-large selections.
| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference tournament | Tournament venue • city | Tournament winner |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | Clemson | 1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament | Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC | Clemson |
| Big Eight Conference | East - Oklahoma West - Missouri | 1978 Big Eight Conference baseball tournament | All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK | Oklahoma State |
| Big Ten Conference | Michigan | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| EIBL | Harvard | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Mid-American Conference | Eastern Michigan | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Pacific-8 Conference | North - Washington State South - Southern California | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | East - Florida West - Auburn | 1978 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament | Perry Field • Gainesville, FL | Auburn |
| Southern Conference | Marshall | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas A&M | 1978 Southwest Conference baseball tournament | Disch–Falk Field • Austin, TX | Baylor |
| Western Athletic Conference | North - BYU South - Arizona State | 1978 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Series | Packard Stadium • Tempe, AZ | Arizona State |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings :
| 1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 25 Clemson ‍†‍‡‍$^y$ 10–2 .83339–14 .736 No. 3 North Carolina ‍‍‍$^y$ 9–3 .75038–17 .691 Wake Forest ‍‍‍ 7–5 .58323–14 .622 Maryland ‍‍‍ 5–6 .45514–14 .500 NC State ‍‍‍ 5–7 .41723–16 .590 Virginia ‍‍‍ 4–8 .33318–14 .563 Duke ‍‍‍ 1–10 .09112–22 .353 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1978 Big Ten Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT No. 6 Michigan ‍†‍‍$^y$ 13–3–0 .81330–17–0 .638 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 11–5–0 .68833–21–0 .611 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 10–6–0 .62523–21–1 .522 Iowa ‍‍‍ 9–6–0 .60028–17–0 .622 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 7–7–0 .50025–17–0 .595 Ohio State ‍‍‍ 9–9–0 .50024–23–0 .511 Indiana ‍‍‍ 5–8–0 .38520–23–0 .465 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .37517–18–1 .486 Illinois ‍‍‍ 6–12–0 .33325–22–1 .531 Purdue ‍‍‍ 3–13–0 .18816–26–0 .381 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1978 NCAA Division I baseball independents standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 4 Miami (FL) ‍‍‍$^y$ – –50–12 .806 No. 28 Hawaii ‍‍‍ – –38–14 .731 No. 11 Gonzaga ‍‍‍$^y$ – –33–14 .702 Detroit ‍‍‍ – –33–16 .673 Mercer ‍‍‍ – –32–16 .667 Stetson ‍‍‍ – –33–17 .660 Richmond ‍‍‍ – –21–12 .636 Virginia Tech ‍‍‍ – –27–17 .614 Air Force ‍‍‍ – –22–15 .595 Northern Iowa ‍‍‍ – –17–16 .515 Lafayette ‍‍‍ – –11–12 .478 Campbell ‍‍‍ – –12–15 .444 Villanova ‍‍‍ – –11–18 .379 Notre Dame ‍‍‍ – –12–25 .324 Hofstra ‍‍‍ – –7–18 .280 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1978 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern Division No. 16 Washington State $^x$‍‍‍$^y$ 15–3 .83341–17 .707 Oregon ‍‍‍ 7–9 .438– – Oregon State ‍‍‍ 6–9 .40022–22 .500 Washington ‍‍‍ 5–12 .29429–16 .644 Southern Division #1 Southern California $^{xy}$ ‍‍‍ 15–3 .83354–9 .857 No. 15 UCLA ‍‍‍ 9–9 .50039–20 .661 California ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33335–27 .565 Stanford ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33335–20 .636 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1978 Southeastern Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Division Florida $^x$‍‍‍ 18–4 .81834–15 .694 Georgia ‍‍‍ 11–12 .47830–19 .612 Tennessee ‍‍‍ 11–12 .47825–21 .543 Vanderbilt ‍‍‍ 10–13 .43531–17 .646 Kentucky ‍‍‍ 6–15 .28620–25 .444 Western Division No. 22 Auburn $^x$‍‍‡‍$^y$ 15–8 .65233–21 .611 No. 14 Mississippi State ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–8 .61938–18 .679 Ole Miss ‍‍‍ 12–11 .52227–21 .563 Alabama ‍‍‍ 10–11 .47623–20 .535 LSU ‍‍‍ 6–18 .25012–34 .261 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1978 Southwest Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 12 Texas A&M ‍†‍‍$^y$ 19–5 .79239–16 .709 No. 18 Arkansas ‍‍‍ 18–6 .75031–13 .705 No. 8 Baylor ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 15–9 .62532–19 .627 No. 13 Houston ‍‍‍ 14–10 .58330–21 .588 Texas ‍‍‍ 12–12 .50036–16 .692 SMU ‍‍‍ 9–15 .37525–29 .463 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 8–16 .33323–25 .479 TCU ‍‍‍ 7–17 .29218–29 .383 Rice ‍‍‍ 6–18 .25018–29 .383 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1978 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern BYU $^x$‍‍‍ 16–2 .88937–15 .712 Wyoming ‍‍‍ 8–10 .44435–24 .593 Colorado State ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33320–26 .435 Utah ‍‍‍ 6–12 .3338–27 .229 Southern No. 2 Arizona State $^x$‍‍‡‍$^y$ 15–3 .83356–12 .824 Arizona ‍‍‍$^y$ 13–5 .72242–13 .764 New Mexico ‍‍‍ 5–12 .29431–24 .564 UTEP ‍‍‍ 2–15 .11826–26 .500 x – Division champion ‡ – Championship Series champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |

## College World Series

The 1978 season marked the thirty second 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 eleventh championship with a 10–3 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 |
| Michigan | Michigan | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Baylor | Baylor | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Baylor | Baylor | 0 | Michigan | Michigan | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Southern California | Southern California | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 9 | Southern California | Southern California | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 3 | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 5 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Oral Roberts | Oral Roberts | 11 | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 2 | | | | | |
| Oral Roberts | Oral Roberts | 11 | | | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 3 | | |
| North Carolina | North Carolina | 0 | | | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 3 | | |
| North Carolina | North Carolina | 0 | Oral Roberts | Oral Roberts | 6 | | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 2 | | |
| | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arizona State | Arizona State | 13 | Arizona State | Arizona State | 7 | | | | | | | | |
| St. John's | St. John's | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 10 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 3 |
| | | | | | | Oral Roberts | Oral Roberts | | | | | | 3 |
| | | | Baylor | Baylor | 1 | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | | | | | | 5 |
| | | | Baylor | Baylor | 1 | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 11 | | 5 |
| | | | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 12 | | | | Arizona State | Arizona State | 11 | |
| | | | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 12 | | | | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 3 | |
| | | | | | | Michigan | Michigan | | Miami (FL) | Miami (FL) | 3 | 6 | |
| | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 9 | North Carolina | North Carolina | | | | | 7 | |
| | | | St. John's | St. John's | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |