1972 NCAA University Division baseball tournament
| Season | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 28 |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Southern California (8th title) |
| Runner-up | Arizona State (5th CWS Appearance) |
| Winning coach | Rod Dedeaux (8th title) |
| MOP | Russ McQueen (Southern California) |
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. 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.
Regionals
The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between two and six teams. 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 | 816 | |||||||||||||
| 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 | 710 | |||||||||||||
| 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 | 414 | ||||||||
| 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 | 511 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 310 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern California | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma | 213 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | 410 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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
- Texas: Dave Chalk, Bobby Cuellar, Ken Pape
Tournament Notes
Southern California becomes the first team to win three consecutive College World Series.