1973 NCAA University Division baseball season

The 1973 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 1973. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1973 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the twenty seventh time in 1973, 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 for the fourth year in a row, en route to five consecutive titles.[1]

1973 NCAA University Division baseball season
Number of teams	216
NCAA Tournament
College World Series
Champions	Southern California (9th title)
Runners-up	Arizona State (6th CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Rod Dedeaux (9th title)
MOP	Dave Winfield (Minnesota)
Seasons

Realignment

• Houston joined the Southwest Conference, leaving the ranks of independents.

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1973 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. 13 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 19 teams earned at-large selections.[1][2]

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue • City	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	1973 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament	Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	NC State
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Minnesota	No Tournament
EIBL	Harvard	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	No Tournament
Pacific-8 Conference	North - Washington State South - Southern California	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Vanderbilt	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Appalachian State	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	North - BYU South - Arizona State	1973 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Series	Phoenix Municipal Stadium • Phoenix, AZ	Arizona State

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1973 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Clemson  ‍†‍‍ 10 – 2   .833     24 – 16   .600 NC State  ‍‍‡‍^y 9 – 3   .750     23 – 10   .697 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 7 – 5   .583     16 – 12   .571 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417     11 – 15   .423 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 6 – 9   .400     6 – 16   .273 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 4 – 7   .364     11 – 9   .550 Duke  ‍‍‍ 2 – 10   .167     7 – 17   .292 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1973[3]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1973 Big Ten Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T   PCT     W   L   T   PCT No. 3 Minnesota  ‍†‍‍^y 14 – 4 – 0   .778     31 – 16 – 2   .653 Michigan  ‍‍‍ 12 – 6 – 0   .667     22 – 16 – 0   .579 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 7 – 0   .611     22 – 14 – 1   .608 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8 – 0   .500     10 – 14 – 0   .417 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9 – 0   .500     27 – 20 – 0   .574 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8 – 0   .500     28 – 12 – 0   .700 Illinois  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444     21 – 13 – 0   .618 Indiana  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444     20 – 16 – 0   .556 Iowa  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444     16 – 14 – 1   .532 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 2 – 16 – 0   .111     8 – 26 – 0   .235 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1973[4][5]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1973 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Northern Division Washington State ^x‍‍‍ 15 – 3   .833     40 – 15   .727 Oregon ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500     –   – Washington ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     10 – 11   .476 Oregon State ‍‍‍ 5 – 13   .278     15 – 20   .429 Southern Division No. 1 Southern California ^x‍‍‍^y 14 – 4   .778     51 – 11   .823 Stanford ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500     37 – 20   .649 UCLA ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     29 – 24   .547 California ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333     21 – 31   .404 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1973[6]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1973 Southwest Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 4 Texas  ‍†‍‍^y 15 – 3   .833     50 – 7   .877 TCU  ‍‍‍ 12 – 7   .632     31 – 12   .721 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 9 – 8   .529     19 – 9   .679 Baylor  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500     21 – 17   .553 Houston  ‍‍‍ 8 – 11   .421     15 – 16   .484 Rice  ‍‍‍ 6 – 10   .375     16 – 14   .533 Texas Tech  ‍‍‍ 6 – 10   .375     12 – 16   .429 SMU  ‍‍‍ 5 – 12   .294     10 – 18   .357 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1973[7]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1973 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Northern BYU  ^x‍‍‍ 13 – 5   .722     30 – 20   .600 Wyoming  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500     21 – 25   .457 Colorado State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     11 – 20   .355 Utah  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     11 – 20   .355 Southern No. 2 Arizona State ^x‡y ‍‍‍ 16 – 1   .941     59 – 8   .881 No. 28 Arizona  ‍‍‍ 15 – 5   .750     37 – 16   .698 New Mexico  ‍‍‍ 4 – 13   .235     28 – 17   .622 UTEP  ‍‍‍ 2 – 16   .111     18 – 27   .400 x – Division champion ‡ – Championship Series champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1973[8]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

The 1973 season marked the twenty seventh 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 ninth championship, and fourth in a row, with a 4–3 win over Arizona State in the final.[1]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Minnesota	1
		Oklahoma	0
							Minnesota	0
							Arizona State	3
		Arizona State	3
		Penn State	1
												Arizona State	1
												Southern California	3
		Texas	6
		Georgia Southern	3
							Texas	1
							Southern California	4
		Southern California	4
		Harvard	1
						Loser's Bracket
							Oklahoma	6
							Penn State	0				Texas	10
												Oklahoma	2
							Georgia Southern	8
							Harvard	0				Minnesota	6
												Georgia Southern	2

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Southern California

8

Minnesota

7

Southern California

4

Arizona State

3

Arizona State

6

Texas

5

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1973 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. 41–43. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
3. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1973". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
4. 2019 Big Ten Baseball Record Book (PDF). Big Ten Conference. p. 101. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1973". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
6. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1973". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
7. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1973". boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
8. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1973". boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 3, 2017.