1978 NCAA Division I baseball season

1978 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	239
NCAA Tournament
College World Series
Champions	Southern California
Runners-up	Arizona State
MOP	Rod Boxberger (Southern California)
Seasons
← 1977	1979 →

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.^[1]

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.^[1][2]

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
EIBL	Harvard	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Eastern Michigan	No Tournament
Pacific-8 Conference	North - Washington State South - Southern California	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	East - Florida West - Auburn	1978 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament	Perry Field • Gainesville, FL	Auburn
Southern Conference	Marshall	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	1978 Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament	Disch–Falk Field • Austin, TX	Baylor

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT #25 Clemson †‡^y 10 – 2   .833     39 – 14   .736 #3 North Carolina ^y 9 – 3   .750     38 – 17   .691 Wake Forest 7 – 5   .583     23 – 14   .622 Maryland 5 – 6   .455     14 – 14   .500 NC State 5 – 7   .417     23 – 16   .590 Virginia 4 – 8   .333     18 – 14   .563 Duke 1 – 10   .091     12 – 22   .353 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1978[3]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1978 Southeastern Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Eastern Division Florida ^x 18 – 4   .818     34 – 15   .694 Georgia 11 – 12   .478     30 – 19   .612 Tennessee 11 – 12   .478     25 – 21   .543 Vanderbilt 10 – 13   .435     31 – 17   .646 Kentucky 6 – 15   .286     20 – 25   .444 Western Division #22 Auburn ^x‡^y 15 – 8   .652     33 – 21   .611 #14 Mississippi State ^y 13 – 8   .619     38 – 18   .679 Ole Miss 12 – 11   .522     27 – 21   .563 Alabama 10 – 11   .476     23 – 20   .535 LSU 6 – 18   .250     12 – 34   .261 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1978[4]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1978 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Northern Division #16 Washington State ^x^y 15 – 3   .833     41 – 17   .707 Oregon 7 – 9   .438     –   – Oregon State 6 – 9   .400     22 – 22   .500 Washington 5 – 12   .294     29 – 16   .644 Southern Division #1 Southern California ^x^y 15 – 3   .833     54 – 9   .857 #15 UCLA 9 – 9   .500     39 – 20   .661 California 6 – 12   .333     35 – 27   .565 Stanford 6 – 12   .333     35 – 20   .636 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1978[5]; 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.^[1]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Michigan	4
		Baylor	0
							Michigan	3
							Southern California	11
		Southern California	9
		Miami (FL)	3
												Southern California	5
												Arizona State	2
		Oral Roberts	11
		North Carolina	0
							Oral Roberts	6
							Arizona State	7
		Arizona State	13
		St. John's	2
						Loser's Bracket
							Baylor	1
							Miami (FL)	12				Oral Roberts	3
												Miami (FL)	5
							North Carolina	9
							St. John's	5				Michigan	6
												North Carolina	7

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Southern California

3

North Carolina

2

Southern California

10

Arizona State

3

Arizona State

11

Miami (FL)

3

Award winners

All-America team

References

1. W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart (2004). The College World Series:A Baseball History, 1947-2003. McFarland & Co. pp. 41–43. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
3. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1978". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
4. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1978". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1978". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 26, 2014.