Number of teams 297 Duration June 1–25, 2012 Runners-up South Carolina | Preseason #1 Florida Gators Champions Arizona | |
Duration February 17, 2012–June 25, 2012 | ||
The 2012 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 on February 17, 2012. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and 2012 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 concluded on June 25, 2012 with the final game of the best of three championship series. Arizona defeated two-time defending champion South Carolina two games to none to claim their fourth championship.
Contents
New programs
Nebraska-Omaha joined Division I from the Division II MIAA.
Dropped programs
Cleveland State dropped its varsity baseball program following the 2011 season. Two programs which had competed as Division I Independents, Le Moyne and New Orleans, dropped to Division II. Centenary, which had been a member of The Summit League, dropped to Division III.
Conference changes
Several conferences added single programs prior to the 2012 season. The Pac-12 Conference added Utah, previously a Mountain West Conference member, and the West Coast Conference added BYU, also a previous Mountain West member. Nebraska moved from the Big 12 Conference to the Big Ten Conference. Campbell moved from the Atlantic Sun Conference to the Big South Conference.
Three Independents joined conferences prior to the season. Savannah State and North Carolina Central both joined the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while SIU Edwardsville joined the Ohio Valley Conference.
Conference formats
With the addition of Savannah State and North Carolina Central, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference split into two divisions, the North and the South.
Conference winners and tournaments
Thirty 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 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, with the exception of the Great West Conference, as that league remains in a provisional status.