1978 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1978 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 1978. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1978 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the thirty-second time in 1978, 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. Southern California claimed the championship for the eleventh time.

1978 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	239
NCAA tournament
College World Series
Champions	USC (11th title)
Runners-up	Arizona State (10th CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Rod Dedeaux (11th title)
MOP	Rod Boxberger (USC)
Seasons

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1978 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. 21 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 13 teams earned at-large selections.

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference tournament	Tournament venue • city	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament	Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC	Clemson
Big Eight Conference	East - Oklahoma West - Missouri	1978 Big Eight Conference baseball tournament	All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK	Oklahoma State
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	No tournament
EIBL	Harvard	No tournament
Mid-American Conference	Eastern Michigan	No tournament
Pacific-8 Conference	North - Washington State South - Southern California	No tournament
Southeastern Conference	East - Florida West - Auburn	1978 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament	Perry Field • Gainesville, FL	Auburn
Southern Conference	Marshall	No tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	1978 Southwest Conference baseball tournament	Disch–Falk Field • Austin, TX	Baylor
Western Athletic Conference	North - BYU South - Arizona State	1978 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Series	Packard Stadium • Tempe, AZ	Arizona State

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 25 Clemson  ‍†‍‡‍y 10 – 2   .833 39 – 14   .736 No. 3 North Carolina  ‍‍‍y 9 – 3   .750 38 – 17   .691 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 7 – 5   .583 23 – 14   .622 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 5 – 6   .455 14 – 14   .500 NC State  ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417 23 – 16   .590 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 4 – 8   .333 18 – 14   .563 Duke  ‍‍‍ 1 – 10   .091 12 – 22   .353 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1978 Big Ten Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 6 Michigan  ‍†‍‍y 13 – 3 – 0   .813 30 – 17 – 0   .638 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 5 – 0   .688 33 – 21 – 0   .611 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 10 – 6 – 0   .625 23 – 21 – 1   .522 Iowa  ‍‍‍ 9 – 6 – 0   .600 28 – 17 – 0   .622 Minnesota  ‍‍‍ 7 – 7 – 0   .500 25 – 17 – 0   .595 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 9 – 0   .500 24 – 23 – 0   .511 Indiana  ‍‍‍ 5 – 8 – 0   .385 20 – 23 – 0   .465 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 6 – 10 – 0   .375 17 – 18 – 1   .486 Illinois  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12 – 0   .333 25 – 22 – 1   .531 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 3 – 13 – 0   .188 16 – 26 – 0   .381 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1978 NCAA Division I baseball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍y –   – 50 – 12   .806 No. 28 Hawaii  ‍‍‍ –   – 38 – 14   .731 No. 11 Gonzaga  ‍‍‍y –   – 33 – 14   .702 Detroit  ‍‍‍ –   – 33 – 16   .673 Mercer  ‍‍‍ –   – 32 – 16   .667 Stetson  ‍‍‍ –   – 33 – 17   .660 Richmond  ‍‍‍ –   – 21 – 12   .636 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍ –   – 27 – 17   .614 Air Force  ‍‍‍ –   – 22 – 15   .595 Northern Iowa  ‍‍‍ –   – 17 – 16   .515 Lafayette  ‍‍‍ –   – 11 – 12   .478 Campbell  ‍‍‍ –   – 12 – 15   .444 Villanova  ‍‍‍ –   – 11 – 18   .379 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍ –   – 12 – 25   .324 Hofstra  ‍‍‍ –   – 7 – 18   .280 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1978 Pacific-8 Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern Division No. 16 Washington State  x‍‍‍y 15 – 3   .833 41 – 17   .707 Oregon ‍‍‍ 7 – 9   .438 –   – Oregon State ‍‍‍ 6 – 9   .400 22 – 22   .500 Washington ‍‍‍ 5 – 12   .294 29 – 16   .644 Southern Division #1 Southern California xy ‍‍‍ 15 – 3   .833 54 – 9   .857 No. 15 UCLA ‍‍‍ 9 – 9   .500 39 – 20   .661 California ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 35 – 27   .565 Stanford ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 35 – 20   .636 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1978 Southeastern Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Division Florida  x‍‍‍ 18 – 4   .818 34 – 15   .694 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 11 – 12   .478 30 – 19   .612 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 11 – 12   .478 25 – 21   .543 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 10 – 13   .435 31 – 17   .646 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 6 – 15   .286 20 – 25   .444 Western Division No. 22 Auburn  x‍‍‡‍y 15 – 8   .652 33 – 21   .611 No. 14 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍y 13 – 8   .619 38 – 18   .679 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 12 – 11   .522 27 – 21   .563 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 10 – 11   .476 23 – 20   .535 LSU  ‍‍‍ 6 – 18   .250 12 – 34   .261 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1978 Southwest Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 12 Texas A&M ‍†‍‍y 19 – 5   .792 39 – 16   .709 No. 18 Arkansas ‍‍‍ 18 – 6   .750 31 – 13   .705 No. 8 Baylor ‍‍‡‍y 15 – 9   .625 32 – 19   .627 No. 13 Houston ‍‍‍ 14 – 10   .583 30 – 21   .588 Texas ‍‍‍ 12 – 12   .500 36 – 16   .692 SMU ‍‍‍ 9 – 15   .375 25 – 29   .463 Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 8 – 16   .333 23 – 25   .479 TCU ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 18 – 29   .383 Rice ‍‍‍ 6 – 18   .250 18 – 29   .383 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1978 Western Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern BYU  x‍‍‍ 16 – 2   .889 37 – 15   .712 Wyoming  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10   .444 35 – 24   .593 Colorado State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 20 – 26   .435 Utah  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 8 – 27   .229 Southern No. 2 Arizona State  x‍‍‡‍y 15 – 3   .833 56 – 12   .824 Arizona  ‍‍‍y 13 – 5   .722 42 – 13   .764 New Mexico  ‍‍‍ 5 – 12   .294 31 – 24   .564 UTEP  ‍‍‍ 2 – 15   .118 26 – 26   .500 x – Division champion ‡ – Championship Series champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1978 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

Main article: 1978 College World Series

The 1978 season marked the thirty second 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 eleventh championship with a 10–3 win over Arizona State in the final.

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	Michigan		4
	Baylor		0
						Michigan		3
						Southern California		11
	Southern California		9
	Miami (FL)		3
											Southern California		5
											Arizona State		2
	Oral Roberts		11
																Southern California		3
	North Carolina		0
						Oral Roberts		6								North Carolina		2
						Arizona State		7
	Arizona State		13
	St. John's		2
																					Southern California		10
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Arizona State		3
											Oral Roberts		3
						Baylor		1			Miami (FL)		5
																Arizona State		11
						Miami (FL)		12
																Miami (FL)		3
											Michigan		6
						North Carolina		9			North Carolina		7
						St. John's		5

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1978 College Baseball All-America Team