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
DurationMay 26–June 15, 1961
College World Series
ChampionsUSC (3rd title)
Runners-upOklahoma State (5th CWS Appearance)
Winning CoachRod Dedeaux (3rd title)
MOPLittleton Fowler (Oklahoma State)
Seasons
← 1960
1962 →

Conference winners

edit

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

edit

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 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 6 Duke  ‍y 11 3   .786 16 11   .593
No. 24 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 10 4   .714 15 7   .682
No. 27 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 9 5   .643 23 7   .767
NC State  ‍‍‍ 8 5   .615 13 5   .722
Clemson  ‍‍‍ 6 8   .429 12 11   .522
Maryland  ‍‍‍ 5 8   .385 8 12   .400
Virginia  ‍‍‍ 4 9   .308 7 11   .389
South Carolina  ‍‍‍ 1 12   .077 3 15   .167
† – Conference champion
‡ – Playoff champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1961[4]
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[5]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1961 Mid-American Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
No. 5 Western Michigan  ‍‍‍y 11 0 0   1.000 19 8 0   .704
Kent State  ‍‍‍ 9 2 0   .818 12 7 0   .632
Ohio  ‍‍‍ 7 3 0   .700 13 6 0   .684
Miami (OH)  ‍‍‍ 3 6 0   .333 5 11 1   .324
Bowling Green  ‍‍‍ 2 7 0   .222 6 12 1   .342
Marshall  ‍‍‍ 2 8 0   .200 8 12 1   .405
Toledo  ‍‍‍ 1 9 0   .100 2 16 0   .111
† – Conference champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1961[6]
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[7]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

edit

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]

Upper round 1Upper round 2Upper finalSemifinalsFinal
Oklahoma State3
Duke2
Oklahoma State12
Syracuse9
Syracuse12
Colorado State College5
Oklahoma State2
Southern California4
Boston College3
Oklahoma State8
Western Michigan2
Boston College3Syracuse0
Southern California10
Southern California8
Texas6
Oklahoma State0
Lower round 1Lower round 2Southern California1
Boston College410
Duke15Duke3
Southern California4
Colorado State College3
Boston College3
Syracuse6
Western Michigan8Western Michigan0
Texas2

Award winners

edit

All-America team

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart (2004). The College World Series:A Baseball History, 1947-2003. McFarland & Co. pp. 35–38. ISBN 9780786418428. 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 November 16, 2020.
  5. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1961". Boyd's World. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1961". Boyds World. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1961". boydsworld.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.