1976 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1976 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 1976. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1976 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the thirtieth time in 1976, 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. Arizona claimed the championship for the first time.[1]

1976 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	219
NCAA Tournament
College World Series
Champions	Arizona (1st title)
Runners-up	Eastern Michigan (2nd CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Jerry Kindall (1st title)
MOP	Steve Powers (Arizona)
Seasons

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1976 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. 18 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 16 teams earned at-large selections.[1][2]

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue • City	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	1976 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament	Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC	Clemson
Big Eight Conference	Missouri	1976 Big Eight Conference Baseball Tournament	All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK	Missouri
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	No Tournament
EIBL	Columbia	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Eastern Michigan	No Tournament
Pacific-8 Conference	North - Washington State South - UCLA	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Auburn	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Furman	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	No Tournament

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1976 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 5 Clemson  ‍†‍‡‍^y 10 – 2   .833     36 – 15   .706 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 8 – 4   .667     19 – 14   .576 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 8 – 4   .667     19 – 17   .528 NC State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 6   .500     20 – 10   .667 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417     22 – 11   .667 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 4 – 8   .333     17 – 22   .436 Duke  ‍‍‍ 1 – 11   .083     7 – 23   .233 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1976[3]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1976 Mid-American Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 2 Eastern Michigan  ‍†‍‍^y 12 – 3   .800     46 – 16   .742 Ohio  ‍‍‍ 11 – 7   .611     25 – 20   .556 Toledo  ‍‍‍ 8 – 6   .571     33 – 11   .750 Miami  ‍‍‍ 10 – 8   .556     40 – 20   .667 Ball State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500     34 – 14   .708 Bowling Green  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8   .500     33 – 20   .623 Western Michigan  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10   .444     25 – 22   .532 Central Michigan  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389     29 – 16   .644 Kent State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 11   .353     14 – 26   .350 Northern Illinois  ‍‍‍ 4 – 10   .286     15 – 22   .405 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1976[4]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1976 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Northern BYU  ^x‍‍‍ 15 – 3   .833     26 – 21   .553 Wyoming  ‍‍‍ 10 – 7   .588     22 – 29   .431 Utah  ‍‍‍ 8 – 9   .471     15 – 26   .366 Colorado State  ‍‍‍ 2 – 16   .111     18 – 26   .409 Southern No. 3 Arizona State  ^x‍‍‍^y 17 – 1   .944     65 – 10   .867 No. 1 Arizona  ‍‍‍^y 12 – 6   .667     56 – 17   .767 New Mexico  ‍‍‍ 4 – 14   .222     28 – 24   .538 UTEP  ‍‍‍ 3 – 15   .167     9 – 25   .265 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1976[5]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

The 1976 season marked the thirtieth 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 Arizona claiming their first championship with a 7–1 win over Eastern Michigan in the final.[1]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Clemson	9
		Auburn	4
							Clemson	2
							Eastern Michigan	3^10
		Eastern Michigan	3
		Maine	2
												Eastern Michigan	2
												Arizona State	1
		Arizona State	7^10
		Arizona	6
							Arizona State	9
							Washington State	3
		Washington State	6
		Oklahoma	1
						Loser's Bracket
							Auburn	8
							Maine	9				Washington State	3
												Maine	6
							Arizona	10
							Oklahoma	2				Clemson	6
												Arizona	10

	Semifinals					Finals					if needed
	Re-ordered Semi-finals
		Eastern Michigan	6									Eastern Michigan	1
		Arizona	7									Arizona	7
							Arizona	5
							Arizona State	1
		Arizona State	7
		Maine	0

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1976 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 23, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
3. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1976". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
4. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1976". Boyds World. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1976". boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 23, 2014.