1996 NCAA Division I baseball season

1996 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	275
NCAA Tournament
College World Series
Champions	LSU
Runners-up	Miami (FL)
MOP	Pat Burrell (Miami (FL))
Seasons

The 1996 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 1996. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1996 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the fiftieth time in 1996, 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. LSU claimed the championship for the third time.

Realignment

• The Metro Conference dissolved, with its members moving primarily to Conference USA.
• Notre Dame departed the Midwestern Collegiate Conference for the Big East Conference, while Xavier and La Salle moved to the Atlantic 10.

Format changes

• The Big East divided into two divisions, named National and American.
• The Trans America Athletic Conference divided into three divisions of four teams each, the Eastern, Southern, and Western.

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1996 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Each of the eight regionals consisted of six teams competing in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. In order to provide all conference champions with an automatic bid, 12 conference champions participated in a play-in round. The six winners joined the other 18 conference champions with automatic bids, 24 teams earned at-large selections.

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue • City	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Florida State	1996 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament	Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC	Virginia
Big East Conference	American - West Virginia National - Villanova	1996 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament	Muzzy Field • Bristol, CT	West Virginia
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma State	1996 Big Eight Conference Baseball Tournament	All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK	Oklahoma State
Big Ten Conference	Penn State	1996 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament	Beaver Field • State College, PA	Indiana
Big West Conference	Long Beach State	1996 Big West Conference Baseball Tournament	Titan Field • Fullerton, CA	UNLV
Conference USA	South Florida	1996 Conference USA Baseball Tournament	Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS	Tulane
Ivy League	Gehrig - Princeton Rolfe - Harvard	1996 Ivy League Baseball Championship Series	Bill Clarke Field • Princeton, NJ	Princeton
Mid-American Conference	Kent State	1996 Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament	Gene Michael Field • Kent, OH	Akron
Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Butler	1996 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Baseball Tournament	Indianapolis, IN	Northern Illinois
Mid-Continent Conference	Troy State	1996 Mid-Continent Conference Baseball Tournament	Riddle–Pace Field • Troy, AL	Northeastern Illinois
North Atlantic Conference	Delaware	1996 North Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament	Mahoney Diamond • Orono, ME	Delaware
Pacific-10 Conference	North - Washington South - Southern California	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Eastern - Florida Western - Alabama	1996 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament	Hoover Metropolitan Stadium • Hoover, AL	Alabama
Southern Conference	Georgia Southern	1996 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament	College Park • Charleston, SC	Georgia Southern
Southwest Conference	Texas	1996 Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament	Dan Law Field • Lubbock, TX	Rice
Trans America Athletic Conference	Eastern - Georgia State Southern - Stetson Western - Jacksonville State	1996 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament	Conrad Park • DeLand, FL	UCF
West Coast Conference	Santa Clara	No tournament

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Florida State  ‍†‍‍y 19 – 5   .792 52 – 17   .754 No. 4 Clemson  ‍‍‍y 17 – 7   .708 51 – 17   .750 No. 18 Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍y 13 – 11   .542 40 – 24   .625 No. 28 NC State  ‍‍‍y 13 – 11   .542 42 – 19   .689 No. 19 Virginia  ‍‍‡‍y 11 – 13   .458 44 – 21   .677 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 33 – 25   .569 Duke  ‍‍‍ 9 – 14   .391 39 – 18   .684 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16   .304 26 – 32   .448 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292 24 – 27   .471 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Big East Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT American Division West Virginia  x‍‍‡‍y 15 – 10 – 0   .600 33 – 25 – 0   .569 Providence  x‍‍‍ 15 – 10 – 0   .600 32 – 17 – 1   .650 St. John's  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10 – 0   .583 26 – 18 – 0   .591 Connecticut  ‍‍‍ 13 – 12 – 0   .520 24 – 23 – 0   .511 Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍ 9 – 13 – 0   .409 24 – 20 – 2   .543 Boston College  ‍‍‍ 6 – 18 – 0   .250 15 – 27 – 0   .357 National Division Villanova  x‍‍‍ 16 – 5 – 0   .762 25 – 20 – 0   .556 Rutgers  ‍‍‍ 15 – 7 – 1   .674 32 – 21 – 1   .602 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y 13 – 7 – 0   .650 44 – 18 – 0   .710 Georgetown  ‍‍‍ 6 – 18 – 0   .250 18 – 34 – 0   .346 Seton Hall  ‍‍‍ 5 – 17 – 1   .239 18 – 27 – 1   .402 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Big Ten Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn State  ‍†‍‍ 19 – 8   .704 32 – 24   .571 Indiana  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 8   .692 43 – 18   .705 Illinois  ‍‍‍ 17 – 10   .630 37 – 22   .627 Michigan  ‍‍‍ 17 – 11   .607 24 – 30   .444 Minnesota  ‍‍‍ 15 – 12   .556 30 – 26   .536 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 15 – 13   .536 36 – 20   .643 Iowa  ‍‍‍ 13 – 13   .500 25 – 22   .532 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 10 – 18   .357 26 – 29   .473 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 – 19   .296 22 – 32   .407 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 24   .143 14 – 41   .255 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1996 Big West Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Long Beach State  ‍†‍‍ 15 – 6   .714 34 – 26   .567 No. 26 UNLV  ‍‍‡‍ 14 – 7   .667 43 – 17   .717 UC Santa Barbara  ‍‍‍ 14 – 7   .667 32 – 20   .615 No. 13 Cal State Fullerton  ‍‍‍ 13 – 8   .619 42 – 16   .724 Nevada  ‍‍‍ 8 – 13   .381 28 – 18   .609 New Mexico State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 13   .381 25 – 27   .481 San Jose State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 14   .333 28 – 28   .500 Pacific  ‍‍‍ 5 – 16   .238 24 – 25   .490 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Conference USA baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT South Florida  ‍†‍‍y 20 – 4   .833 47 – 19   .712 Tulane  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 6   .750 43 – 20   .683 Southern Miss  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10   .583 32 – 28   .533 UAB  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542 33 – 25   .569 Charlotte  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 29 – 30   .492 Memphis  ‍‍‍ 9 – 11   .450 26 – 28   .481 Saint Louis  ‍‍‍ 9 – 12   .429 25 – 24   .510 Louisville  ‍‍‍ 6 – 15   .286 18 – 36   .333 Cincinnati  ‍‍‍ 1 – 19   .050 5 – 34   .128 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Mid-American Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT Kent State  ‍†‍‍ 21 – 7 – 0   .750 30 – 20 – 0   .600 Ohio  ‍‍‍ 21 – 11 – 0   .656 34 – 23 – 0   .596 Toledo  ‍‍‍ 18 – 14 – 0   .563 27 – 27 – 0   .500 Akron  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 14 – 0   .563 37 – 23 – 0   .617 Ball State  ‍‍‍ 16 – 14 – 0   .533 32 – 20 – 1   .613 Central Michigan  ‍‍‍ 16 – 14 – 0   .533 31 – 20 – 0   .608 Eastern Michigan  ‍‍‍ 16 – 16 – 0   .500 26 – 29 – 0   .473 Bowling Green  ‍‍‍ 14 – 17 – 0   .452 28 – 22 – 0   .560 Western Michigan  ‍‍‍ 10 – 21 – 0   .323 17 – 34 – 0   .333 Miami  ‍‍‍ 5 – 27 – 0   .156 12 – 40 – 0   .231 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1996 Southeastern Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Division No. 3 Florida  x‍†‍‍ 20 – 10   .667 50 – 18   .735 No. 12 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 18 – 12   .600 43 – 20   .683 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 15 – 14   .517 35 – 24   .593 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 14 – 16   .467 29 – 25   .537 South Carolina  ‍‍‍ 13 – 17   .433 25 – 28   .472 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 8 – 21   .276 24 – 30   .444 Western Division No. 5 Alabama  x‍†‍‡‍ 20 – 10   .667 50 – 19   .725 No. 1 LSU  x‍†‍‍ 20 – 10   .667 52 – 15   .776 No. 27 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 17 – 13   .567 38 – 24   .613 Arkansas  ‍‍‍ 15 – 15   .500 39 – 20   .661 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 12 – 18   .400 32 – 24   .571 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 7 – 23   .233 24 – 30   .444 x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Southern Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 14 Georgia Southern †‡y ‍‍‍ 17 – 3   .850 46 – 14   .767 Western Carolina  ‍‍‍ 17 – 7   .708 32 – 24   .571 Furman  ‍‍‍ 15 – 9   .625 26 – 29   .473 The Citadel  ‍‍‍ 13 – 10   .565 33 – 26   .559 Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 12 – 10   .545 27 – 19   .587 East Tennessee State  ‍‍‍ 11 – 12   .478 26 – 24   .520 VMI  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16   .304 17 – 29   .370 Davidson  ‍‍‍ 6 – 18   .250 16 – 33   .327 Marshall  ‍‍‍ 4 – 17   .190 7 – 35   .167 † – Conference champion ‡ – SoCon Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1996 Southwest Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 16 Texas  ‍†‍‍y 17 – 7   .708 39 – 24   .619 No. 17 Texas Tech  ‍‍‍y 15 – 9   .625 49 – 15   .766 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 12 – 12   .500 37 – 21   .638 Baylor  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 32 – 27   .542 Texas Christian  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 34 – 33   .507 Houston  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15   .375 29 – 28   .509 No. 25 Rice  ‍‍‡‍y 9 – 15   .375 42 – 23   .646 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

Main article: 1996 College World Series

The 1996 season marked the fiftieth 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 LSU claiming their third championship with a 9–8 win over Miami (FL) in the final.

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1996 College Baseball All-America Team