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.

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.

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 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 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 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 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 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

Main article: 1961 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.

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	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
																Oklahoma State		8
	Western Michigan		2
						Boston College		3								Syracuse		0
						Southern California		10
	Southern California		8
	Texas		6
																					Oklahoma State		0
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Southern California		1
											Boston College		410
						Duke		15			Duke		3
																Southern California		4
						Colorado State College		3
																Boston College		3
											Syracuse		6
						Western Michigan		8			Western Michigan		0
						Texas		2

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1961 College Baseball All-America Team