| Year: | 1972 |
| Division: | University Division |
| Teams: | 28 |
| Collegeworldseriesballpark: | Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium |
| City: | Omaha, NE |
| Champions: | Southern California |
| Titlecount: | 8th |
| Runner-Up: | Arizona State |
| Cwscount: | 5th |
| Coach: | Rod Dedeaux |
| Coachcount: | 8th |
| Mop: | Russ McQueen |
| Mopteam: | Southern California |
| Tournament Link: | NCAA Division I Baseball Championship |
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.[1] 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.
The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between two and six teams.[2] The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.
Bold indicates winner.
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | CWS appearances | CWS best finish | CWS record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60–4 (18–0) | 4 (last: 1969) | 1st (1965, 1967, 1969) | 16–5 | ||||
| 19–5 (12–0) | 3 (last: 1965) | 5th (1957) | 2–6 | ||||
| 25–15 (13–3) | 0 (last: none) | none | 0–0 | ||||
| 28–14 (15–3) | 3 (last: 1969) | 4th (1956) | 3–6 | ||||
| 34–15 (12–8) | 1 (last: 1951) | 1st (1951) | 4–0 | ||||
| 42–12–1 (14–4) | 13 (last: 1971) | 1st (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971) | 43–17 | ||||
| 31–13 (10–1) | 0 (last: none) | none | 0–0 | ||||
| 38–7 (12–6) | 13 (last: 1970) | 1st (1949, 1950) | 26–23 |
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 9 | Game 1 | 8–6 | ||||
| Game 2 | 3–0 (10 innings) | |||||
| June 10 | Game 3 | 2–1 (13 innings) | ||||
| Game 4 | 2–1 | |||||
| Game 5 | 9–8 | Ole Miss eliminated | ||||
| June 11 | Game 6 | 13–9 | Iowa eliminated | |||
| Game 7 | 5–4 (11 innings) | |||||
| Game 8 | 1–0 | |||||
| June 12 | Game 9 | 7–4 | Connecticut eliminated | |||
| Game 10 | 7–1 | Oklahoma eliminated | ||||
| Game 11 | 3–0 | |||||
| June 14 | Game 12 | 4–3 (10 innings) | Texas eliminated | |||
| Game 13 | 1–0 | Temple eliminated | ||||
| June 15 | Game 14 | 3–1 | ||||
| June 16 | Final | 1–0 | Southern California wins CWS |
The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.
| Position | Player | School | |
|---|---|---|---|
| P | Russ McQueen (MOP) | style= | USC |
| style= | Arizona State | ||
| C | style= | USC | |
| 1B | style= | USC | |
| 2B | style= | Arizona State | |
| 3B | style= | Texas | |
| SS | style= | Ole Miss | |
| OF | style= | Arizona State | |
| style= | USC | ||
| style= | Arizona State |
Southern California becomes the first team to win three consecutive College World Series.