1972 NCAA University Division baseball tournament

The 1972 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its twenty-sixth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 28 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.^[1] The twenty-sixth tournament's champion was Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Russ McQueen of the University of Southern California.

1972 NCAA University Division
baseball tournament

Season	1972
Teams	28
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Southern California (8th title)
Runner-up	Arizona State (5th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Rod Dedeaux (8th title)
MOP	Russ McQueen (Southern California)
← 1971  NCAA Division I Baseball Championship 1973 →

Regionals

The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between two and six teams.^[2] The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner.

District 1 at Storrs, CT

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Harvard

4*

Providence

2*

Harvard

5

Connecticut

8^16

Connecticut

5

Northeastern

2

Connecticut

11

—

Harvard

2

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Northeastern

6

Providence

3

Harvard

18

Northeastern

4

District 2 at Princeton, NJ

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	Temple		3
	Penn State		1
						Temple		1
						Long Island		0
	LIU		2
	St. John's		1
											Temple		4	—
											Penn State		3	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Penn State		7
	Penn State		8			Long Island		5
	St. John's		5

District 3 at Gastonia, NC

	Round 1					Round 2					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	South Alabama		6
	Florida State		5			South Alabama		9
						Jacksonville		6
	Virginia		18								South Alabama		6
	Richmond		2								Virginia		1
						Virginia		9													South Alabama		4	1
						Ole Miss		3													Ole Miss		8	12
	Ole Miss		9													Ole Miss		9
	Jacksonville		3								Ole Miss		8			Virginia		0
						Florida State		10			Florida State		3
						Richmond		5

District 4 at Bowling Green, OH

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	Central Michigan		7
	Iowa		2
						Central Michigan		5
						Bowling Green		7^10
	Bowling Green		2
	Northern Illinois		0
											Bowling Green		2	5
											Iowa		4	7
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Iowa		4
	Iowa		8			Central Michigan		3
	Northern Illinois		1

District 5 at Tulsa, OK

	Finals
	Tulsa	3	4	—
	Oklahoma	6	5	—

District 6 at San Antonio, TX

	Semifinals				Finals
	Texas–Pan American	6
	Trinity	1
					Texas-Pan American	0	1	—
					Texas	1	2	—
	Texas	4^14
	Trinity	3

District 7 at Mesa, AZ

	Finals
	Arizona State	8	5	—
	Weber State	1	0	—

District 8 at Santa Clara, CA & Santa Barbara, CA

	Santa Clara, CA						Santa Barbara, CA
							Southern California	9	13	—
	UC Santa Barbara	1	8	6			UC Santa Barbara	5	6	—
	Santa Clara	4	2	5

College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	CWS appearances	CWS best finish	CWS record
Arizona State	WAC	60–4 (18–0)	Jim Brock	4 (last: 1969)	1st (1965, 1967, 1969)	16–5
Connecticut	Yankee	19–5 (12–0)	Larry Panciera	3 (last: 1965)	5th (1957)	2–6
Iowa	Big 10	25–15 (13–3)	Duane Banks	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Ole Miss	SEC	28–14 (15–3)	Jake Gibbs	3 (last: 1969)	4th (1956)	3–6
Oklahoma	Big 8	34–15 (12–8)	Enos Semore	1 (last: 1951)	1st (1951)	4–0
Southern California	Pac-8	42–12–1 (14–4)	Rod Dedeaux	13 (last: 1971)	1st (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971)	43–17
Temple	Middle Atlantic	31–13 (10–1)	Skip Wilson	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Texas	SWC	38–7 (12–6)	Cliff Gustafson	13 (last: 1970)	1st (1949, 1950)	26–23

Results

Bracket

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	Ole Miss		6
	Southern California		8
						Southern California		5^11
						Connecticut		4
	Texas		0
	Connecticut		3^10
											Southern California		0
											Arizona State		3
	Temple		1
																Arizona State		1
	Oklahoma		2^13
						Oklahoma		0								Temple		0
						Arizona State		1
	Iowa		1
	Arizona State		2
																					Arizona State		1	0
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Southern California		3	1
											Texas		7
						Ole Miss		8			Oklahoma		1
																Texas		3
						Texas		9
																Southern California		4^10
											Temple		7
						Temple		13			Connecticut		4
						Iowa		9

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 9	Game 1	Southern California	8–6	Ole Miss
	Game 2	Connecticut	3–0 (10 innings)	Texas
June 10	Game 3	Oklahoma	2–1 (13 innings)	Temple
	Game 4	Arizona State	2–1	Iowa
	Game 5	Texas	9–8	Ole Miss	Ole Miss eliminated
June 11	Game 6	Temple	13–9	Iowa	Iowa eliminated
	Game 7	Southern California	5–4 (11 innings)	Connecticut
	Game 8	Arizona State	1–0	Oklahoma
June 12	Game 9	Temple	7–4	Connecticut	Connecticut eliminated
	Game 10	Texas	7–1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma eliminated
	Game 11	Arizona State	3–0	Southern California
June 14	Game 12	Southern California	4–3 (10 innings)	Texas	Texas eliminated
	Game 13	Arizona State	1–0	Temple	Temple eliminated
June 15	Game 14	Southern California	3–1	Arizona State
June 16	Final	Southern California	1–0	Arizona State	Southern California wins CWS

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position	Player	School
P	Russ McQueen (MOP)	USC
	Craig Swan	Arizona State
C	Sam Ceci	USC
1B	Daryl Arenstein	USC
2B	Ken Reed	Arizona State
3B	David Chalk	Texas
SS	Steve Dillard	Ole Miss
OF	Gary Atwell	Arizona State
	Tim Steele	USC
	Bump Wills	Arizona State

Notable players

• Arizona State: Eddie Bane, Alan Bannister, Jim Crawford, Jim Otten, Craig Swan, Jim Umbarger, Bump Wills
• Connecticut: Ed Harvey, Brian Herosian
• Iowa: Jim Sundberg
• Ole Miss: Steve Dillard
• Oklahoma: Joe Simpson, Jackson Todd
• Southern California: Fred Lynn, Ed Putman, Randy Scarbery, Roy Smalley
• Temple: Joe Kerrigan^[3]
• Texas: Dave Chalk, Bobby Cuellar, Ken Pape

Tournament Notes

Southern California becomes the first team to win three consecutive College World Series.

See also

• 1972 NCAA College Division baseball tournament
• 1972 NAIA World Series

References

1. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 195. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 197. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
3. . Temple University Athletics. October 21, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.