# 1974 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1974 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 1974. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1974 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the twenty eighth time in 1974, 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 fifth year in a row, the first team to claim five consecutive titles.

## Realignment

* Arkansas rejoined the Southwest Conference after nearly 50 years, having departed the conference in 1926.

## Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1974 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA tournament. 15 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 | 1974 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament | Doak Field • Raleigh, NC | NC State |
| Big Eight Conference | Oklahoma | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Iowa/Minnesota | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| EIBL | Harvard | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Mid-American Conference | Miami (OH) | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Pacific-8 Conference | North - Oregon/Washington State South - Southern California | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Vanderbilt | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southern Conference | East Carolina | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1974 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings :
| 1974 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Clemson ‍†‍‍ 10–1 .90923–15 .605 North Carolina ‍‍‍ 9–3 .75022–8 .733 NC State ‍‍‡‍$^y$ 7–5 .58322–12 .647 Maryland ‍‍‍ 6–6 .50011–17 .393 Virginia ‍‍‍ 6–6 .50021–17 .553 Duke ‍‍‍ 3–8 .2739–16 .360 Wake Forest ‍‍‍ 0–12 .0008–20 .286 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1974 Great Plains Athletic Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 6 Northern Colorado ‍†‍‍$^y$ 5–1 .83332–13 .711 Southern Colorado State ‍‍‍ 1–3 .25015–21 .417 Emporia State ‍‍‍ 0–2 .000– – † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1974 Metropolitan Intercollegiate Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 8 Seton Hall ‍†‍‍$^y$ 14–2–0 .87533–10–1 .761 Fairleigh Dickinson ‍‍‍ 12–4–0 .75022–9–0 .710 C. W. Post ‍‍‍ 11–5–0 .68821–9–0 .700 LIU ‍‍‍ 10–6–0 .62517–13–0 .567 Iona ‍‍‍ 7–9–0 .43810–13–0 .435 Manhattan ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .3759–12–0 .429 Wagner ‍‍‍ 2–13–0 .1336–15–0 .286 CCNY ‍‍‍ 2–13–0 .1332–19–0 .095 St. Francis (NY) ‍‍‍ 0–0–0 –8–12–0 .400 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 17, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1974 NCAA Division I District 3 baseball independents standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 10 South Carolina ‍‍‍$^y$ – –48–8 .857 No. 2 Miami (FL) ‍‍‍$^y$ – –51–11 .823 South Alabama ‍‍‍ – –30–8 .789 No. 11 Georgia Southern ‍‍‍$^y$ – –47–14 .770 Stetson ‍‍‍ – –30–13 .698 Florida State ‍‍‍ – –37–25 .597 Marshall ‍‍‍ – –21–15 .583 South Florida ‍‍‍ – –21–16 .568 Georgia Tech ‍‍‍ – –20–17 .541 Virginia Tech ‍‍‍ – –15–15 .500 Mercer ‍‍‍ – –15–19 .441 Western Carolina ‍‍‍ – –11–14 .440 Georgetown ‍‍‍ – –7–11 .389 Jacksonville ‍‍‍ – –19–36 .345 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1974 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern Division Washington State $^x$‍‍‍ 14–4 .77838–9 .809 No. 29 Oregon ‍‍‍ 12–6 .667– – Oregon State ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33316–23 .410 Washington ‍‍‍ 5–12 .29410–28 .263 Southern Division No. 1 Southern California $^x$‍‍‍$^y$ 11–7 .61150–20 .714 Stanford ‍‍‍ 10–8 .55628–19 .596 California ‍‍‍ 8–10 .44425–24 .510 UCLA ‍‍‍ 7–11 .38926–35 .426 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1974 Southwest Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT No. 4 Texas ‍†‍‍$^y$ 20–4 .83354–8 .871 No. 21 Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 17–7 .70831–13 .705 No. 22 TCU ‍‍‍ 14–10 .58331–17 .646 Rice ‍‍‍ 12–11 .52224–18 .571 Baylor ‍‍‍ 12–11 .52224–18 .571 Houston ‍‍‍ 10–13 .43520–21 .488 Arkansas ‍‍‍ 9–15 .37522–21 .512 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 9–15 .37511–22 .333 SMU ‍‍‍ 4–20 .16716–26 .381 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |
| 1974 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northern BYU $^x$‍‍‍ 12–5 .70629–17 .630 Utah ‍‍‍ 11–7 .61118–25 .419 Wyoming ‍‍‍ 7–10 .41228–28 .500 Colorado State ‍‍‍ 4–12 .25013–24 .351 Southern No. 9 Arizona $^x$‍‍‡‍$^y$ 16–2 .88958–6 .906 No. 19 Arizona State ‍‍‍$^y$ 12–6 .66739–24 .619 New Mexico ‍‍‍ 6–12 .33328–23 .549 UTEP ‍‍‍ 2–16 .11124–27 .471 x – Division champion ‡ – Playoff champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1974 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |

## College World Series

The 1974 season marked the twenty eighth 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 tenth championship, and fifth in a row, with a 7–3 win over Miami (FL) 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 |
| Miami | Miami | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Harvard | Harvard | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Harvard | Harvard | 1 | Miami | Miami | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 10 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northern Colorado | Northern Colorado | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Northern Colorado | Northern Colorado | 1 | | | | Miami | Miami | 7 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 9 | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern California | Southern California | 9 | | | | | | | Miami | Miami | 3 | | | | | | |
| Texas | Texas | 2 | | | | | | | Miami | Miami | 3 | | | | | | |
| Texas | Texas | 2 | Southern California | Southern California | 5 | | | | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | 5 | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seton Hall | Seton Hall | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Miami | Miami | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | 2 | Southern California | Southern California | 7 |
| | | | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 7 | | | |
| | | | | | | Northern Colorado | Northern Colorado | | | | | | 2 | | | | | |
| | | | Harvard | Harvard | 2 | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | | | | | | 5 | | | | | |
| | | | Harvard | Harvard | 2 | Southern Illinois | Southern Illinois | | Southern California | Southern California | 5 | | 5 | | | | | |
| | | | Northern Colorado | Northern Colorado | 4 | | | | Southern California | Southern California | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Northern Colorado | Northern Colorado | 4 | | | | Texas | Texas | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Texas | Texas | | Texas | Texas | 3 | 10 | | | | | | |
| | | | Texas | Texas | 12 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | | | | | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | Seton Hall | Seton Hall | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |