The 1997 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 1997. It concluded with the 1997 College World Series, the 51st, a double-elimination tournament of eight regional champions held in Omaha, Nebraska, at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. LSU claimed its second consecutive and fourth total Division I championship.
Realignment The Big Eight Conference merged with four members of the Southwest Conference (Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech) to form the Big 12 Conference.
Format changes The Big West Conference divided into two divisions of four, called Northern and Southern.
Conference winners This is a list of conference champions from the 1997 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, 10 conference champions participated in a play-in round. The five winners joined the other 19 conference champions with automatic bids, and 32 other teams earned at-large selections. ConferenceRegular season winnerConference TournamentTournament Venue • CityTournament Winner America East Conference 1997 America East Conference baseball tournament Frawley Stadium • Wilmington, DE Atlantic 10 Conference East - West - 1997 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament Bear Stadium • Boyertown, PA Atlantic Coast Conference 1997 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament Florida Power Park • St. Petersburg, FL Big 12 Conference 1997 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK Big East Conference American - National - 1997 Big East Conference baseball tournament Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium • Norwich, CT Big South Conference 1997 Big South Conference baseball tournament Knights Stadium • Fort Mill, SC Big Ten Conference 1997 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament Ray Fisher Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI Big West Conference Northern - Southern - 1997 Big West Conference baseball tournament Blair Field • Long Beach, CA Colonial Athletic Association 1997 Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament Grainger Stadium • Kinston, NC Conference USA 1997 Conference USA baseball tournament Turchin Stadium • New Orleans, LA Ivy League Gehrig - Rolfe - 1997 Ivy League Baseball Championship Series Joseph J. O'Donnell Field • Cambridge, MA Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Northern - Southern - 1997 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference baseball tournament Heritage Park • Colonie, NY Mid-American Conference 1997 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament Trautwein Field • Athens, OH Midwestern Collegiate Conference 1997 Midwestern Collegiate Conference baseball tournament Wright Stadium • Dayton, OH Mid-Continent Conference Eastern - Western - 1997 Mid-Continent Conference baseball tournament Les Miller Field • Chicago, IL Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North - South - 1997 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Moore–Kittles Field • Tallahassee, FL Missouri Valley Conference 1997 Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament Eck Stadium • Wichita, KS Northeast Conference / 1997 Northeast Conference baseball tournament Sussex, NJ Ohio Valley Conference / 1997 Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament Reese Smith Jr. Field • Murfreesboro, TN Pacific-10 Conference North - South - Stanford 1997 Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Championship Series Sunken Diamond • Stanford, CA Patriot League 1997 Patriot League baseball tournament Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field • West Point, NY Southeastern Conference Eastern - FloridaWestern - LSU 1997 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament Golden Park • Columbus, GA Alabama Southern Conference 1997 Southern Conference baseball tournament Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park • Charleston, SC Southland Conference Louisiana - Texas - 1997 Southland Conference baseball tournament Warhawk Field • Monroe, LA Southwestern Athletic Conference East - West - 1997 Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Kirsch-Rooney Stadium • New Orleans, LA Sun Belt Conference 1997 Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field • Lafayette, LA Trans America Athletic Conference Eastern - Southern - Western - 1997 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball tournament Conrad Park • DeLand, FL West Coast Conference No tournament Western Athletic Conference North - South - West - 1997 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament Smith Field • San Diego, CA
Conference standings The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:
College World Series
The 1997 season marked the fifty first 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 fourth championship with a 13–6 win over Alabama in the final.
Bracket
Award winners
All-America team
Coaching changes This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 1997 season until the day before the first day of the 1998 season. TeamFormercoachInterimcoachNewcoachReason Coppin State East Carolina Hartford Iowa Banks retired after 28 seasons following 10th-place Big Ten finish in 1997. James Madison La Salle Liberty McNeese State Mississippi State Polk retired following 1997 CWS appearance. Mount St. Mary's Nebraska Sanders fired after 20 seasons following 10th-place Big 12 finish in 1997. Northern Illinois McFarland left to become head coach at James Madison. Northwestern State Van Horn left after an SLC Louisiana Division title to become head coach at Nebraska. Pittsburgh Portland Princeton Samford Santa Clara Southern Miss Southern Utah UTPA Western Carolina Hennon left after a SoCon Tournament title to become head coach at East Carolina.
References