The 1976 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the

1976 NCAA Division I baseball season The 1976 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 1976. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded w ...

to determine the national champion of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

, a double-elimination tournament in its thirtieth year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Seven regions held a four team, double-elimination tournament while one region included six teams, resulting in 34 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The thirtieth tournament's champion was

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, coached by

Jerry Kindall Gerald Donald Kindall (May 27, 1935 – December 24, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over ...

. The Most Outstanding Player was Steve Powers of

Regionals

Seven of the eight regionals were played as 4-team double-elimination tournaments. One regional was played as a 6-team double-elimination tournament. The winner of each regional moved onto the College World Series.

Atlantic Regional

Games played in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

Rocky Mountain Regional

Games played in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

Mideast Regional

Games played in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, and ...

South Regional

Games played in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

Midwest Regional

Games played in

Edinburg, Texas Edinburg ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. Its population was 74,569 as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and in 2019, its estimated population was 101,170, making it the second-largest city ...

South Central Regional

Games played in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

West Regional

Games played in

Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...

Northeast Regional

Games played in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,344 at the 2010 Unite ...

College World Series

Participants

Results

Bracket

Game results

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Notable players

Ron Hassey Ronald William Hassey (born February 27, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1978–1984), Chicago Cubs (1984), New York Yankees (1985–1986), ...

Dave Stegman David William Stegman (born January 30, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played all or part of six seasons in the majors for the Detroit Tigers (1978–1980), New York Yankees (1982) and Chicago White Sox (1983–1984). Duri ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Gary Allenson Gary Martin Allenson (born February 4, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and coach and minor league manager. In , he spent a second stint as manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Double-A Eastern League, after ...

Chris Bando Christopher Michael Bando (born February 4, 1956) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the 1980s, spending most of his career with the Cleveland Indians before playing for the Detroit ...

Floyd Bannister Floyd Franklin Bannister (born June 10, 1955) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros (–), Seattle Mariners (–), Chicago White Sox (–), Kansas City ...

Mike Colbern Michael Malloy Colbern (April 19, 1955 – March 8, 2019) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Chicago White Sox in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Career Colbern was born in Santa Monica, California ...

Bob Horner James Robert Horner (born August 6, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a third baseman and a first baseman from to , most prominently as a ...

, Dave Hudgens,

Darrell Jackson Darrell Lamont Jackson (born December 6, 1978) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 2000s. Jackson played college football for ...

Ken Landreaux Kenneth Francis Landreaux (born December 22, 1954) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 through 1987. Pla ...

Chris Nyman Christopher Curtis Nyman (born June 6, 1955) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played during two seasons at the Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. He was signed by the White Sox as an amateur free ag ...

Bob Pate Robert Wayne Pate (born December 3, 1953) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played in 1980 and 1981 with the Montreal Expos. Listed at 6' 3", 200 lb., he batted and threw right handed.Rick Peters Rick Peters (born June 1, 1967 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American actor. He has appeared in several films and numerous television shows, and is perhaps best known for his role as Australian Bobby Manning in '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye''. He also p ...

Ken Phelps Kenneth Allan Phelps (born August 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman. He played for six different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1980 to 1990, primarily with the Seattle Mariners. Baseb ...

Gary Rajsich Gary Louis Rajsich ( ; born October 28, 1954) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) scout and a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of four seasons in the Majors from until , then played three additional seasons f ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Joe Beckwith Thomas Joseph Beckwith (January 28, 1955May 22, 2021) was an American baseball pitcher who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals from 1979 to 1986. He threw right-hand ...

, Terry Leach * Clemson:

Ron Musselman Ralph Ronald Musselman (born November 11, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners () and Toronto Blue Jays (-). Prior to turning professional, he played for the Clemson Tigers. Musselman was mostly a relief pitche ...

, Chuck Porter,

Kurt Seibert Kurt Elliot Seibert (born October 16, 1955 in Cheverly, Maryland) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. Seibert played for the Chicago Cubs in . In seven career games, he had no hits in two at-bats. He was a switch-hitter, who threw ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

: Glenn Gulliver, John Martin,

Bob Owchinko Robert Dennis Owchinko (born January 1, 1955) is a former professional baseball pitcher. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1976 and 1986, for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Oak ...

, Bob Welch *

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

Jack Leggett Jack Leggett (born March 5, 1954) is a retired American head college baseball coach. He was recently the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015. Under Leggett, the Tigers reached the College World Series six times. As of the end of ...

Bert Roberge Bertrand Roland Roberge (born October 3, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, and Montreal Expos from 1979 through 1986. Amateur career A native ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Terry Bogener Terry Wayne Bogener (born September 28, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played for one season. He played for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers for 24 games during the 1982 Texas Rangers season. External links , oR ...

Keith Drumright Keith Alan Drumright (October 21, 1954 – August 7, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. He played parts of two seasons in the major leagues. He played for the Houston Astros in 1978 and the Oakland Athletics in 1981. D ...

George Frazier George Francis Frazier Jr. (June 10, 1911 – June 13, 1974) was an American journalist. Frazier was raised in South Boston, attended the Boston Latin School, and was graduated from Harvard College (where he won the Boylston Prize for Rhetoric) in ...

, Gene Krug, Roger LaFrancois *

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

: Dave Edler,

Eric Wilkins Eric Lamoine Wilkins (born December 9, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians for 16 games during the 1979 Cleveland Indians season. Wilkins attended Washington State Univer ...

Tom Niedenfuer Thomas Edward Niedenfuer (born August 13, 1959), is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher. Exclusively a relief pitcher, reliever during his ten-year career, he played his first six-plus seasons for the Los Angeles Dodger ...

Tournament Notes

*The Arizona State team featured 13 future Major League players – a record matched by the school's team from the previous year. *Arizona head coach

became the first person to win a College World Series as both a player (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) and a coach. *

appeared in his fourth College World Series. *Eastern Michigan was the last northern school to play in the final game of the College World Series for 43 years, until Michigan in 2019.

References

{{NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

NCAA Division I Baseball The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

Baseball in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex

Regionals

Atlantic Regional

Rocky Mountain Regional

Mideast Regional

South Regional

Midwest Regional

South Central Regional

West Regional

Northeast Regional

College World Series

Participants

Results

Bracket

Game results

All-Tournament Team

Notable players

Tournament Notes

See also

References