College World Series

The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets, with the winner of each bracket playing in the best-of-three championship series. The tournament takes place in June of each year.

The NCAA Division II and Division III baseball championships are described below, in the section on other championships.

History
Since 1950, the College World Series (CWS) has been held in Omaha, Nebraska. It was held at Rosenblatt Stadium from 1950 through 2010; starting in 2011, it has been held at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Earlier tournaments were held at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan (1947–48) and Wichita, Kansas (1949). The name "College World Series" (CWS) is derived from that of the Major League Baseball World Series championship; it is currently an MLB trademark licensed to the NCAA.

Contract extension
On June 10, 2009, the NCAA and College World Series of Omaha, Inc., which is the non-profit group that actually organizes the event, announced a new 25-year contract extension, keeping the CWS in Omaha through 2035. A memorandum of understanding had been reached by all parties on April 30.

The new contract began in 2011, the same year the tournament moved from Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, a new ballpark across from CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Format History and Changes
1947 — Eight teams were divided into two, four-team, single-elimination playoffs. The two winners then met in a best-of-three final in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1948 — Similar to 1947, but the two, four-team playoffs were changed to double-elimination tournaments. Again in the finals, the two winners met in a best-of-three format in Kalamazoo.

1949 — The final was expanded to a four-team, double-elimination format and the site changed to Wichita, Kansas. Eight teams began the playoffs with the four finalists decided by a best-of-three district format.

1950-1987 — An eight-team, double-elimination format for the College World Series coincided with the move to Omaha in 1950. 1950-1953, a baseball committee chose one team from each of the eight NCAA districts to compete at the CWS. Though 1987 the College World Series was a pure double-elimination event. That ended with the 1987 College World Series.

1988-1998 — The format was changed beginning with the 1988 College World Series, when the tournament was divided into two four-team double-elimination brackets, with the survivors of each bracket playing in a single championship game. The single-game championship was designed for network television, with the final game on CBS on a Saturday afternoon.

Before expanding to 64 teams in 1999, the Division I tournament began with 48 teams, split into 8 six-team regionals. The winner of each regional advanced to the College World Series. The regionals were a test of endurance, as teams had to win at least four games over four days, sometimes five if a team dropped into the loser's bracket, placing a premium on pitching. In the last two years of the six-team regional format, the eventual CWS champion - (LSU in 1997 and Southern California in 1998) - had to battle back from the loser's bracket in the regional to advance to Omaha.

1999-2002 — With some 293 Division I teams playing, the NCAA switched to a 64-team, Regional field in 1999, with 8 National (super) Seed teams, divided into 16 four-team regionals (each team seeded 1 to 4), with the winners of each of the 16 "Regionals" advancing to eight two-team, best-of-three-format "Super Regionals". The eight Super Regional winners advanced to the CWS in Omaha, NE. In 2008, a number-4-seeded Regional team, the lowest seeding possible (akin to a #13-16 seed in college basketball's March Madness) - the Fresno State Bulldogs - won the CWS championship, against the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, winning two of three in the championship series. While the CWS format remained the same, the expanded field meant that eight super regional champions would advance. The 64-team bracket is set at the beginning of the championship and teams are not reseeded for the CWS. Since the 1999 College World Series, the four-team brackets in the CWS have been determined by the results of regional and super-regional play, much like the NCAA basketball tournament. Prior to 1999, the pairings for the CWS were not determined until after the completion of the regional tournaments.

2003-Present — The eight super regional champions advance into two, four-team brackets. The eight super regional winners are not reseeded for the CWS. Those two brackets play double-elimination with the bracket winners then meeting in a best-of-three championship series. Also, in 2003, the tournament returned entirely to cable television on ESPN, which had been covering all of the other games of the CWS since 1982 (and a partial schedule since 1980). The championship final became a best-of-three series between the two bracket winners, with games scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings. In the results shown here, Score indicates the score of the championship game(s) only. In 2008, the start of the CWS was moved back one day, and an extra day of rest was added in between bracket play and the championship series.

CWS appearances & titles

 * Table is sortable
 * Bold indicates team won the CWS that year

Top Ten most CWS Finals (appearances)

 * Table is sortable
 * Bold indicates team won the CWS that year
 * Regular indicates team was Runner-up that year

All-Time CWS National Championships by Conference
(Listed by actual Conference affiliation/membership during each Title season)
 * CIBA was California Intercollegiate Baseball Association that competed as a division under the Pacific Coast Conference, which operated under its own Charter. (Citation pg 14 of NCAA CWS Record Book - 2012 CWS Media Guide)
 * Independents = Miami Hurricanes (4) and Holy Cross Crusaders (1)
 * (WAC*) Original Western Athletic Conference 1962-1978 (Arizona State & Arizona titles pre 1979)
 * SCBA was Southern California Baseball Association (1977-84).
 * (WAC**) Reorganized Western Athletic Conference 1992-Present (Rice & Fresno State titles)

Division II
The Division II tournament has been held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina since 2009, with the complex earning the bid to host through at least the 2013 championship. In 2008 and 2009, the title game was shown on CBS College Sports Network.

This division uses a single-game championship rather than the best-of-three series.

The 48-team tournament is also marked by a strict and unbalanced regional structure. Teams are chosen from the division's eight geographical regions, with eight teams being selected to the South Regional, four teams selected to the West Regional and all other regional tournaments consisting of six teams. 

Former Division II College World Series sites:
 * 1968-71 Springfield, Missouri
 * 1972-79 Springfield, Illinois
 * 1980-84 Riverside, California
 * 1985-2007 Montgomery, Alabama
 * 2008 Sauget, Illinois

Division III
Marietta College (Ohio) hosted the Division III baseball championship from its first year in 1976 through 1987. The 1988 and 1989 series were played in Bristol, Connecticut. Battle Creek, Michigan took over in 1990 and Salem, Virginia, in 1995. The Division III tournament has been held at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin since 2000. This division uses a pure "double elimination" format rather than the best-of-three series.

Division II Champions

 * 1968 Chapman 11-0 Delta State
 * 1969 Illinois State 12-0 Southwest Missouri State
 * 1970 Cal State Northridge 2-1 Nicholls State
 * 1971 Florida Southern 4-0 Central Michigan
 * 1972 Florida Southern 5-1 Cal State Northridge
 * 1973 UC Irvine 9-6 Ithaca
 * 1974 UC Irvine 14-1 LSU-New Orleans
 * 1975 Florida Southern 10-7 Marietta
 * 1976 Cal Poly Pomona 17-3 SIU-Edwardsville
 * 1977 UC Riverside 4-1 Eckerd
 * 1978 Florida Southern 7-2 Delta State
 * 1979 Valdosta State 3-2 Florida Southern
 * 1980 Cal Poly Pomona 13-6 New Haven
 * 1981 Florida Southern 9-0 Eastern Illinois
 * 1982 UC Riverside 10-1 Florida Southern
 * 1983 Cal Poly Pomona 9-7 Jacksonville State
 * 1984 Cal State Northridge 10-5 Florida Southern
 * 1985 Florida Southern 15-5 Cal Poly Pomona
 * 1986 Troy State 5-0 Columbus State
 * 1987 Troy State 7-5 Tampa
 * 1988 Florida Southern 5-4 Sacramento State
 * 1989 Cal Poly-SLO 9-5 New Haven
 * 1990 Jacksonville State 12-8 Cal State Northridge
 * 1991 Jacksonville State 20-4 Missouri Southern
 * 1992 Tampa 11-8 Mansfield
 * 1993 Tampa 7-5 Cal Poly-SLO
 * 1994 Central Missouri State 14-9 Florida Southern


 * 1995 Florida Southern 15-0 Georgia College
 * 1996 Kennesaw State 4-0 St. Joseph's (Ind.)
 * 1997 Chico State 13-12 Central Oklahoma
 * 1998 Tampa 6-1 Kennesaw State
 * 1999 Chico State 11-5 Kennesaw State
 * 2000 Southeastern Oklahoma 7-2 Fort Hays State
 * 2001 St. Mary's (Tex.) 11-3 Central Missouri State
 * 2002 Columbus State 5-3 Chico State
 * 2003 Central Missouri State 11-4 Tampa
 * 2004 Delta State 12-8 Grand Valley State
 * 2005 Florida Southern 12-9 North Florida
 * 2006 Tampa 3-2 Chico State
 * 2007 Tampa 7-2 Columbus State
 * 2008 Mount Olive 6-2 Ouachita Baptist
 * 2009 Lynn 2-1 Emporia State
 * 2010 Southern Indiana 6-4 UC San Diego
 * 2011 West Florida 12-2 Winona State
 * 2012 West Chester 9–0 Delta State

Division III Champions

 * 1976 Cal State Stanislaus 13-6 Ithaca
 * 1977 Cal State Stanislaus 8-5 Brandeis
 * 1978 Glassboro State 5-3 Marietta
 * 1979 Glassboro State 3-0 Cal State Stanislaus
 * 1980 Ithaca 12-5 Marietta
 * 1981 Marietta 14-12 (12) Ithaca
 * 1982 Eastern Connecticut State 11-6 Cal State Stanislaus
 * 1983 Marietta 36-8 Otterbein
 * 1984 Ramapo 5-4 Marietta
 * 1985 Wisconsin–Oshkosh 11-6 Marietta
 * 1986 Marietta 11-6 Ithaca
 * 1987 Montclair State 13-12 (10) Wisconsin–Oshkosh
 * 1988 Ithaca 7-5 Wisconsin–Oshkosh
 * 1989 N.C. Wesleyan 8-7 (13) Cal State Stanislaus
 * 1990 Eastern Connecticut State 8-1 Aurora
 * 1991 Southern Maine 9-0 Trenton State
 * 1992 William Paterson 3-1 Cal Lutheran
 * 1993 Montclair State 3-1 Wisconsin–Oshkosh
 * 1994 Wisconsin–Oshkosh 6-2 Wesleyan (Conn.)
 * 1995 La Verne 5-3 Methodist
 * 1996 William Paterson 6-5 Cal Lutheran
 * 1997 Southern Maine 15-1 Wooster
 * 1998 Eastern Connecticut State 16-1 Montclair State
 * 1999 N.C. Wesleyan 1-0 St. Thomas (Minn.)


 * 2000 Montclair State 6-2 St. Thomas (Minn.)
 * 2001 St. Thomas (Minn.) 8-4 Marietta
 * 2002 Eastern Connecticut State 8-0 Marietta
 * 2003 Chapman 15-7 Christopher Newport
 * 2004 George Fox 6-3 Eastern Connecticut State
 * 2005 Wisconsin–Whitewater 11-4 Cortland State
 * 2006 Marietta 7-2 Wheaton (Mass.)
 * 2007 Kean 5-4 Emory
 * 2008 Trinity (Conn.) 5-4 Johns Hopkins
 * 2009 St. Thomas (Minn.) 3-2 Wooster
 * 2010 Illinois Wesleyan 17-5 SUNY-Cortland
 * 2011 Marietta 18-5 Chapman
 * 2012 Marietta 7-2 Wheaton (Mass.)