1961 NCAA University Division baseball season

The 1961 NCAA University Division baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1961. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1961 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the fifteenth time in 1961, 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.[1]

1961 NCAA University Division baseball season
NCAA Tournament
Duration	May 26–June 15, 1961
College World Series
Champions	USC (3rd title)
Runners-up	Oklahoma State (5th CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Rod Dedeaux (3rd title)
MOP	Littleton Fowler (Oklahoma State)
Seasons

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1961 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. 9 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 16 teams earned at-large selections.[1][2]

Conference	Regular Season Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Duke
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma State
Big Ten Conference	Michigan
CIBA	Southern California
EIBL	Navy
Mid-American Conference	Western Michigan
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington State
Southeastern Conference	LSU
Southern Conference	West Virginia
Southwest Conference	Texas

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1961 Athletic Association of Western Universities baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT North Division No. 28 Washington State ‍†‍‍^y 8 – 4   .667     21 – 10   .677 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 8 – 6   .571     27 – 14   .659 Oregon ‍‍‍ 6 – 5   .545     –   – Idaho ‍‍‍ 6 – 9   .400     –   – Washington ‍‍‍ 4 – 8   .333     13 – 10   .565 California Intercollegiate Baseball Association No. 1 Southern California ‍†‍‍^y 12 – 4   .750     36 – 7   .837 No. 14 California ‍‍‍ 11 – 5   .688     29 – 10   .744 UCLA ‍‍‍ 7 – 9   .438     25 – 15   .625 Santa Clara ‍‍‍ 5 – 11   .313     –   – Stanford ‍‍‍ 5 – 11   .313     26 – 17   .605 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1961[3]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1961 Big Eight Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 2 Oklahoma State  ‍†‍‍^y 18 – 1   .947     27 – 3   .900 Missouri  ‍‍‍ 13 – 6   .684     16 – 7   .696 Colorado  ‍‍‍ 9 – 8   .529     21 – 11   .656 Kansas State  ‍‍‍ 10 – 10   .500     10 – 12   .455 Oklahoma  ‍‍‍ 9 – 10   .474     10 – 15   .400 Nebraska  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     9 – 14   .391 Iowa State  ‍‍‍ 3 – 13   .188     5 – 14   .263 Kansas  ‍‍‍ 2 – 12   .143     5 – 14   .263 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1961[4]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1961 Southwest Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 8 Texas  ‍†‍‍^y 11 – 3   .786     22 – 6   .786 No. 25 Baylor  ‍‍‍ 10 – 4   .714     18 – 4   .818 Rice  ‍‍‍ 6 – 6   .500     13 – 11   .542 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 6 – 8   .429     14 – 10   .583 TCU  ‍‍‍ 6 – 8   .429     7 – 16   .304 SMU  ‍‍‍ 1 – 11   .083     5 – 16   .238 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1961[5]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

The 1961 season marked the fifteenth 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 third championship with a 1–0 win over Oklahoma State in the final.[1]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Oklahoma State	3
		Duke	2
							Oklahoma State	12
							Syracuse	9
		Syracuse	12
		Colorado State College	5
												Oklahoma State	2
												Southern California	4
		Boston College	3
		Western Michigan	2
							Boston College	3
							Southern California	10
		Southern California	8
		Texas	6
						Loser's Bracket
							Duke	15
							Colorado State College	3				Boston College	4^10
												Duke	3
							Western Michigan	8
							Texas	2				Syracuse	6
												Western Michigan	0

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Oklahoma State

8

Syracuse

0

Oklahoma State

0

Southern California

1

Southern California

4

Boston College

3

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1961 College Baseball All-America Team

References

1. W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart (2004). The College World Series:A Baseball History, 1947-2003. McFarland & Co. pp. 35–38. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
3. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1961". Boyd's World. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
4. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1961". Boyd's World. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1961". boydsworld.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.