The 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2015. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2015 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended on June 24, 2015, with the final game of the best-of-three championship series between Vanderbilt and Virginia, won by Virginia.
Realignment
There were many significant conference changes that took effect prior to the season.
Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten. Louisville and Rutgers left The American, joining the ACC and Big Ten respectively. A third team from The American, Temple, dropped baseball. East Carolina and Tulane left Conference USA for The American. Western Kentucky left the Sun Belt for Conference USA. Appalachian State, Davidson, Georgia Southern, and Elon all left the Southern Conference (SoCon). Appalachian State and Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt, Davidson the Atlantic 10, and Elon the CAA. East Tennessee State and Mercer left the Atlantic Sun for the SoCon. ETSU returned to the SoCon after a nine-year absence. VMI left the Big South and returned to the SoCon after an 11-year absence. Oral Roberts returned to The Summit League after two seasons in the Southland.
In addition, the 2015 season was the last for Northern Kentucky in the Atlantic Sun and for NJIT as an independent. In July 2015, Northern Kentucky joined the Horizon League, and the Atlantic Sun replaced the Norse with NJIT. It was also the last for Texas–Pan American (UTPA) as an institution. UTPA merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville in July 2015 to form the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The UTPA athletic program was inherited by UTRGV, with the nickname of Vaqueros, and UTRGV maintains UTPA's membership in the Western Athletic Conference.
Format changes The Big South Conference dropped its divisional format.
New stadiums West Virginia opened the new Monongalia County Ballpark, with a fixed capacity of 2,500 plus extra hillside seating. The venue replaced Hawley Field, which closed for conference games after the 2012 season because it did not meet standards of the Big 12 Conference, which WVU joined in 2012. The Mountaineers played their 2013 and 2014 home conference games at several venues around the state, while Hawley Field remained in use for non-conference games. Once the college baseball season is over, the ballpark will be used by the West Virginia Black Bears, a Class A Short Season affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Season outlook For the full rankings, see 2015 NCAA Division I baseball rankings
Collegiate Baseball News RankingTeam1Vanderbilt2TCU3Virginia4LSU5Oklahoma State6Florida7Texas8Houston9Texas Tech10UCLA11Florida State12Louisville1314Miami (FL)151617Cal State Fullerton181920Mississippi State21South Carolina22232425 Perfect Game USARankingTeam1Vanderbilt2Virginia3TCU4Florida5UCLA6Texas7LSU8Houston9Louisville10Miami (FL)11Florida State12Texas Tech13Oklahoma State14South Carolina1516Arkansas171819Cal State Fullerton20212223Mississippi State2425 Baseball AmericaRankingTeam1Vanderbilt2LSU3Houston4Virginia5Texas Tech6Florida7TCU8Oklahoma State9Miami (FL)10Texas11UCLA12Louisville13South Carolina14Mississippi State15161718192021Florida State22UCF23Cal State Fullerton24Clemson25 CoachesRankingTeam1Vanderbilt2Virginia3TCU4LSU5Florida6Texas7Louisville8Oklahoma State9UCLA10South Carolina11Houston12Florida State13Texas Tech14Miami (FL)1516171819Cal State Fullerton202122232425Mississippi State NCBWARankingTeam1Vanderbilt2Virginia3TCU4LSU5Florida6Texas7Houston8Oklahoma State9UCLA10Louisville11South Carolina12Texas Tech13Miami (FL)141516Florida State1718Cal State Fullerton19202122Mississippi State232425
Conference standings
Conference winners and tournaments Twenty-nine athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament or a double-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. ConferenceRegularseason winnerConferenceplayer of the yearConferencecoach of the yearConferencetournamentTournamentvenue (city)TournamentwinnerAmerica East Conference Jack Parenty, Stony Brook Bob Mumma, 2015 America East Conference baseball tournament Edward A. LeLacheur Park • Lowell, MA Stony BrookAmerican Athletic Conference Houston Ian Happ, Cincinnati Cliff Godwin, East Carolina 2015 American Athletic Conference baseball tournament Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL East CarolinaAtlantic 10 Conference Michael Morman, Raphael Cerrato, 2015 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament Barcroft Park • Arlington, VA VCUAtlantic Coast Conference Atlantic - LouisvilleCoastal - Miami (FL) Will Craig, Wake Forest Dan McDonnell, Louisville 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Florida StateAtlantic Sun Conference Donnie Dewees, North Florida Smoke Laval, North Florida 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament Swanson Stadium • Fort Myers, FL Big 12 Conference TCU Cody Jones, TCU Jim Schlossnagle, TCU 2015 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament ONEOK Field • Tulsa, OK TexasBig East Conference Nick Collins, Ed Blankmeyer, St. John's 2015 Big East Conference baseball tournament TD Ameritrade Park Omaha • Omaha, NE St. John'sBig South Conference Cole Hallum, Joe Raccuia, Radford 2015 Big South Conference baseball tournament John Henry Moss Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC RadfordBig Ten Conference David Kerian, Illinois Dan Hartleb, Illinois 2015 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament Target Field • Minneapolis, MN Big West Conference Cal State Fullerton Cameron Newell, &David Olmedo-Barrera, Cal State Fullerton Rick Vanderhook, Cal State Fullerton No tournament, regular season champion earns auto bidColonial Athletic Association Blake Butler, College of Charleston Monte Lee, College of Charleston 2015 Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament CofC Baseball Stadium at Patriot's Point • Mount Pleasant, SC Conference USA Brendon Sanger, Jim McGuire, Memphis 2015 Conference USA baseball tournament Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Horizon League Jeff Boehm, UIC Mike Dee, UIC 2015 Horizon League baseball tournament Oil City Stadium • Whiting, IN Ivy League Gehrig - /Rolfe - Gus Craig, Columbia & Austin Bossart, Penn Brett Boretti, Columbia 2015 Ivy League Baseball Championship Series Campus sites Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Brett Siddall, Barry Davis, Rider 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference baseball tournament Dutchess Stadium • Wappingers Falls, NY Mid-American Conference East - West - Mitch Longo, Steve Jaksa, Central Michigan 2015 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament All Pro Freight Stadium • Avon, OH Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Northern - Southern - Florida A&M Charles Sikes, Claudell Clark, Norfolk State 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Arthur W. Perdue Stadium • Salisbury, MD Florida A&MMissouri Valley Conference Kevin Kaczmarski, Keith Guttin, Missouri State 2015 Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament Eck Stadium • Wichita, KS Missouri StateMountain West Conference Grant Fennell, Nevada T. J. Bruce, Nevada 2015 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament William Peccole Park • Reno, NV Northeast Conference Nick Dini, Jim Carone, Wagner 2015 Northeast Conference baseball tournament Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium • Norwich, CT Ohio Valley Conference Chris Robinson, Mike McGuire, Morehead State 2015 Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament The Ballpark at Jackson • Jackson, TN Pac-12 Conference UCLA Scott Kingery, Arizona John Savage, UCLA No tournament, regular season champion earns auto bidPatriot League Sean Trent, Navy Paul Kostacopoulos, Navy 2015 Patriot League baseball tournament Campus sites Southeastern Conference East - Vanderbilt West - LSU Andrew Benintendi, Arkansas Paul Mainieri, LSU 2015 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament Hoover Metropolitan Stadium • Hoover, AL Southern Conference Kyle Lewis, Mercer Craig Gibson, Mercer 2015 Southern Conference baseball tournament Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park • Charleston, SC Southland Conference Jacob Seward, Southeastern Louisiana Matt Riser, Southeastern Louisiana 2015 Southland Conference baseball tournament Constellation Field • Sugar Land, TX Southwestern Athletic Conference East- Alabama StateWest - Melvin Rodriguez, Mitch Hill, 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Wesley Barrow Stadium • New Orleans, LA The Summit League Anthony Sequeira, Oral Roberts Bob Herold, 2015 Summit League baseball tournament Sioux Falls Stadium • Sioux Falls, South Dakota Oral RobertsSun Belt Conference Blake Trahan, Louisiana–Lafayette Mark Calvi, South Alabama 2015 Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament Riddle–Pace Field • Troy, AL Louisiana–LafayetteWest Coast Conference Kyle Holder, San Diego Rich Hill, San Diego 2015 West Coast Conference baseball tournament Banner Island Ballpark • Stockton, CA PepperdineWestern Athletic Conference Jensen Park, Bill Kernen, 2015 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament Sloan Park • Mesa, AZ
College World Series
The 2015 College World Series will begin on June 13 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Coaching changes This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2015 season until the day before the first day of the 2016 season. TeamFormercoachInterimcoachNewcoachReason Arizona Jay Johnson Retired Auburn Fired Baylor Steve Rodriguez Fired Cal State Bakersfield Bob Macaluso Retired Clemson Monte Lee Fired College of Charleston Matt Heath Resigned to accept coaching position at Clemson. Eastern Illinois Fired Eastern Kentucky Edwin Thompson Fired James Madison Retired Nevada T. J. Bruce Resigned to accept coaching position at Arizona. Northwestern Spencer Allen Retired Pacific Fired Pepperdine Rick Hiretensteiner Resigned to accept coaching position at Baylor. Portland Geoff Loomis Fired Washington State Marty Lees Fired Western Kentucky John Pawlowski Fired
See also
2015 College Baseball All-America Team 2015 NCAA Division I baseball rankings 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament
References