# 1951 NCAA baseball season

The 1951 NCAA baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1951. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1951 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the fifth time in 1951, 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. Oklahoma claimed the championship.

## Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1951 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. Conference champions had to be chosen, unless all conference champions declined the bid.
| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference tournament | Tournament city | Tournament winner |
| Big Seven | Oklahoma | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| Big Ten | Ohio State | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| CIBA | Southern California | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| EIBL | Princeton | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| Missouri Valley | Houston | 1951 Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament | Tulsa, OK | Houston |
| Pacific Coast Conference North | Oregon State | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Tennessee | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |
| Southern Conference | North - Maryland South - Clemson | 1951 Southern Conference baseball tournament | Greensboro, NC | Duke |
| Southwest Conference | Texas/Texas A&M | No conference tournament | No conference tournament | No conference tournament |

## Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
1951 Big Seven Conference baseball standings :
| 1951 Big Seven Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma ‍†‍‍$^y$ 10–1 .90919–9 .679 Missouri ‍‍‍ 9–4 .69212–6 .667 Nebraska ‍‍‍ 5–4 .55610–5 .667 Colorado ‍‍‍ 3–5 .375– – Kansas ‍‍‍ 5–9 .3576–9 .400 Kansas State ‍‍‍ 5–10 .3335–10 .333 Iowa State ‍‍‍ 3–7 .3008–7 .533 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 30, 1951 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1951 Big Ten Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Ohio State ‍†‍‍$^y$ 10–2–0 .83323–15–0 .605 Illinois ‍‍‍ 8–3–0 .72716–9–0 .640 Indiana ‍‍‍ 6–4–1 .59116–10–1 .611 Minnesota ‍‍‍ 6–6–0 .50015–10–0 .600 Wisconsin ‍‍‍ 5–5–1 .50014–8–1 .630 Northwestern ‍‍‍ 5–6–0 .45511–9–0 .550 Michigan State ‍‍‍ 4–6–0 .40017–9–0 .654 Iowa ‍‍‍ 4–8–0 .33311–13–0 .458 Michigan ‍‍‍ 4–8–0 .33313–10–0 .565 Purdue ‍‍‍ 2–9–0 .18210–12–1 .457 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 30, 1951 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | 1951 Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Princeton ‍†‍‍$^y$ 7–2–0 .77820–6–0 .769 Brown ‍‍‍ 6–2–0 .75012–5–0 .706 Columbia ‍‍‍ 6–3–0 .66710–7–0 .588 Cornell ‍‍‍ 5–3–0 .62513–5–0 .722 Navy ‍‍‍ 5–3–0 .62510–11–0 .476 Penn ‍‍‍ 4–5–0 .4449–10–0 .474 Harvard ‍‍‍ 3–5–0 .3757–9–0 .438 Army ‍‍‍ 3–6–0 .3338–14–1 .370 Yale ‍‍‍ 2–6–0 .25016–14–0 .533 Dartmouth ‍‍‍ 1–7–0 .1254–22–1 .167 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series |
| 1951 Missouri Valley Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT East Bradley $^x$‍‍‍ 5–2 .71420–5 .800 Detroit ‍‍‍ 2–3 .4008–11 .421 Drake ‍‍‍ 1–3 .2507–7 .500 Saint Louis ‍‍‍ 1–3 .250– – West Houston $^x$‍‍‡‍ 7–1 .87516–9 .640 Tulsa ‍‍‍ 4–2 .6679–8 .529 Oklahoma A&M ‍‍‍ 2–4 .3339–8 .529 Wichita State ‍‍‍ 1–5 .1674–9 .308 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion As of June 30, 1951 | 1951 Pacific Coast Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT North Division Oregon State ‍†‍‍ 10–4–0 .71423–6–0 .793 Washington State ‍‍‍ 11–5–0 .68830–11–0 .732 Washington ‍‍‍ 10–6–0 .62514–7–1 .659 Oregon ‍‍‍ 7–9–0 .43814–14–0 .500 Idaho ‍‍‍ 0–14–0 .0003–17–0 .150 California Intercollegiate Baseball Association USC ‍†‍‍$^y$ 11–5–0 .68822–10–0 .688 UCLA ‍‍‍ 10–6–0 .62524–13–0 .649 Stanford ‍‍‍ 9–9–0 .50021–13–0 .618 California ‍‍‍ 6–10–0 .37522–16–0 .579 Santa Clara ‍‍‍ 5–11–0 .3130–0–0 – † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament | 1951 Southeastern Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L T PCTW L T PCT Tennessee ‍†‍‍$^y$ 16–1–0 .94120–3–0 .870 Alabama ‍‍‍ 13–4–1 .75017–5–1 .761 Ole Miss ‍‍‍ 10–4–0 .71415–4–0 .789 Florida ‍‍‍ 9–7–0 .56316–9–0 .640 LSU ‍‍‍ 6–6–0 .50010–6–0 .625 Auburn ‍‍‍ 8–8–0 .50014–11–0 .560 Tulane ‍‍‍ 7–9–0 .43810–11–0 .476 Mississippi State ‍‍‍ 6–9–0 .40011–9–0 .550 Georgia Tech ‍‍‍ 8–12–0 .40011–12–0 .478 Kentucky ‍‍‍ 5–9–1 .3678–10–1 .447 Georgia ‍‍‍ 6–11–0 .35312–13–0 .480 Vanderbilt ‍‍‍ 0–13–1 .0360–18–1 .026 x – Division champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 18, 1951 Rankings from Coaches' Poll |
| 1951 Southwest Conference baseball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas A&M ‍†‍‍$^y$ 11–4 .73321–11 .656 Texas ‍‍‍ 11–4 .73317–6 .739 TCU ‍‍‍ 8–7 .53310–11 .476 SMU ‍‍‍ 6–9 .40010–12 .455 Baylor ‍‍‍ 6–9 .40010–10 .500 Rice ‍‍‍ 3–12 .2008–13 .381 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 30, 1951 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball |

## College World Series

The 1951 season marked the fifth NCAA Baseball Tournament, which consisted of the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska, which set a record for attendance of 27,789. Districts used a variety of selection methods to the event, from playoffs to a selection committee. District playoffs were not considered part of the NCAA Tournament, and the expansion to eight teams resulted in the end of regionals as they existed from 1947 through 1949. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Oklahoma claiming their first championship with a 3–2 win over Tennessee in the final.
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Upper final | | | Final | Final |
| Southern California | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Princeton | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Princeton | 1 | Southern California | 8 | | | | | | |
| | | Utah | 2 | | | | | | |
| Utah | 7 | Utah | 2 | | | | | | |
| Tennessee | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Tennessee | 1 | | | Southern California | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | Oklahoma | 4 | | | | |
| Oklahoma | 9$^{10}$ | | | Oklahoma | 4 | | | | |
| Ohio State | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| Ohio State | 8 | Oklahoma | 7 | | | | | | |
| | | Springfield | 1 | | | | | | |
| Springfield | 5 | Springfield | 1 | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | 1 | | | | | | | Oklahoma | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | Tennessee | 2 |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 3 | Lower round 3 | Lower final | Lower final | |
| | | Tennessee | 2 | | | | | | |
| Princeton | 2 | Springfield | 0 | | | Tennessee | 9 | |
| Tennessee | 3 | | | Tennessee | 5 | Southern California | 8 | |
| | | | | Utah | 4 | | | | |
| | | Texas A&M | 8 | | | | | | |
| Ohio State | 2 | Utah | 15 | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | 3 | | | | | | | | |