Global Information2016 NCAA Division I baseball tournament information
 | |
| Season | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 64 |
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Arizona Wildcats (16th CWS Appearance) |
| Winning coach | Gary Gilmore (1st title) |
| MOP | Andrew Beckwith (Coastal Carolina) |
| Television | ESPN Networks |
The 2016 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2016, as part of the 2016 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2016 College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska, starting on June 18, 2016, and ending on June 30, 2016.[1] The 64 participating NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of 298 eligible teams.[2] Thirty-one teams were awarded an automatic bid, as champions of their conferences; the remaining 33 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
Teams were divided into sixteen regionals of four teams, which conducted a double-elimination tournament. Regional champions faced each other in Super Regionals, a best-of-three-game series to determine the eight participants of the College World Series.[1] The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) set a conference record and tied the all-time mark of having ten teams in the championship field.[3] A tournament-high seven regional hosts came from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), followed by six of the ten ACC schools; however, only Miami (ACC) and Florida (SEC) advanced to Omaha, and they were the first and second teams eliminated, respectively. For the first time since the tournament expanded from 48 teams in 1999, the NCAA did not select any Pac-12 schools to host a regional, and Lubbock, Texas, (Texas Tech) was the westernmost regional host city picked by the selection committee.[4]
In the CWS after Texas Tech lost to Big 12 rival TCU, none of the three national seeds who had reached Omaha had won their opening game. Tech eventually became the fourth team to be eliminated. While Oklahoma State and TCU advanced through the winners' bracket to set up a possible all–Big 12 championship, Arizona and Coastal Carolina won both elimination games to advance to the best-of-three final series.
With each team winning a game in the championship series to force a winner-take-all Game 3, the tournament reached the maximum of 17 games for the first time; the finals expanded in 2003 to a best-of-three format as opposed to a single, winner-take-all championship game.[5] Coastal Carolina won the deciding game, 4–3, becoming the first team since 1956 to win the title in its first CWS appearance.[6] Coastal Carolina won six elimination games in NCAA post-season play – one in a Regional, three in the CWS double-elimination bracket, and two in the Championship Series.[7] The runner-up, Arizona, won six elimination games – three in a Regional and three in the CWS double-elimination bracket, but lost their 7th, the last game of the Championship Series.[8]
- ^ a b "Baseball Division I Championship". NCAA. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "NCAA Sports Sponsorship". Web1.ncaa.org. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announces the field of 64 teams". NCAA.com. May 31, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "NCAA Baseball Tournament 2016 regional sites named; no Pac-12 hosts for first time since expansion". OregonLive.com. May 29, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "Coastal Carolina forces winner-take-all Game 3 with Arizona in CWS". Sports Illustrated. June 29, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ "Coastal Carolina defeats Arizona, 4–3, to win first College World Series title". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ Redford, Patrick (June 30, 2016). "Early Runs Push Cats Past OSU". Deadspin. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ "Early Runs Push Cats Past OSU". University of Arizona. June 25, 2016. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.