1951 NCAA baseball season

1951 NCAA baseball season
College World Series
Champions	Oklahoma
Runners-up	Tennessee
MOP	Sidney Hatfield (Tennessee)
Seasons
← 1950	1952 →

The 1951 NCAA baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1951. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1951 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the fifth time in 1951, 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. Oklahoma claimed the championship.

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1951 season. Each of the eight geographical districts chose, by various methods, the team that would represent them in the NCAA Tournament. Conference champions had to be chosen, unless all conference champions declined the bid.

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament City	Tournament Winner
Big Seven	Oklahoma	No Conference Tournament
Big Ten	Ohio State	No Conference Tournament
CIBA	Southern California	No Conference Tournament
EIBL	Princeton	No Conference Tournament
Missouri Valley	Houston	1951 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament	Tulsa, OK	Houston
Pacific Coast Conference North	Oregon State	No Conference Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Tennessee	No Conference Tournament
Southern Conference	North - Maryland South - Clemson	1951 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament	Greensboro, NC	Duke
Southwest Conference	Texas	No Conference Tournament

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1951 Big Seven Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Oklahoma †y 10 – 1   .909     19 – 9   .679 Missouri 9 – 4   .692     12 – 6   .667 Nebraska 5 – 4   .556     10 – 5   .667 Colorado 3 – 5   .375     –   – Kansas 5 – 9   .357     6 – 9   .400 Kansas State 5 – 10   .333     5 – 10   .333 Iowa State 3 – 7   .300     8 – 7   .533 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the College World Series As of June 30, 1951; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

1951 Missouri Valley Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT East Bradley x 5 – 2   .714     20 – 5   .800 Detroit 2 – 3   .400     8 – 11   .421 Drake 1 – 3   .250     7 – 7   .500 Saint Louis 1 – 3   .250     –   – West Houston x‡ 7 – 1   .875     16 – 9   .640 Tulsa 4 – 2   .667     9 – 8   .529 Oklahoma State 2 – 4   .333     9 – 8   .529 Wichita State 1 – 5   .167     4 – 9   .308 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion As of June 30, 1951;

College World Series

Main article: 1951 College World Series

The 1951 season marked the fifth NCAA Baseball Tournament, which consisted of the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska, which set a record for attendance of 27,789. Districts used a variety of selection methods to the event, from playoffs to a selection committee. District playoffs were not considered part of the NCAA Tournament, and the expansion to eight teams resulted in the end of regionals as they existed from 1947 through 1949. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Oklahoma claiming their first championship with a 3–2 win over Tennessee in the final.

	Round 1					Round 2					Round 3					Round 4					Final
	Winner's Bracket
		Southern California	4
		Princeton	1
							Southern California	8
							Utah	2
		Utah	7
		Tennessee	1
												Southern California	1
												Oklahoma	4
		Oklahoma	9*
		Ohio State	8
							Oklahoma	7
							Springfield	1
		Springfield	5
		Texas A&M	1																			Oklahoma	3
																						Tennessee	2
	Loser's Bracket
		Princeton	2
		Tennessee	3				Tennessee	2
							Springfield	0
												Tennessee	5
		Ohio State	2									Utah	4				Tennessee	9
		Texas A&M	3				Texas A&M	8									Southern California	8
							Utah	15

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1951 College Baseball All-America Team