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Every May, division 1 teams across America wait anxiously to see if their hard work and dedication during a grueling regular season will pay off, by having their name called on Selection Monday. For the deserving 64 teams whose names are called, the road to Omaha is not so simple, teams are split into 16 different brackets to compete for a Regional championship. The 16 regional champs, then move on to the Super Regionals, where there are eight different best of three series. The winners of each of the Super Regionals then become the Omaha Eight as it is known, where they are split into two brackets of four and compete in a double elimination style tournament to determine a champion. After that, the two teams left standing go head to head in a best of three series to determine the National Champion.
With selection Monday right around the corner on May 28th, we take a look back at the storied history of Omaha and the College World Series. What started as a winner take all, single-game elimination tournament in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has grown into one of the finest spectacles in college sports. There would only be one more World Series played in Kalamazoo before changing locations to Wichita, Kansas in 1949. After just one year, the location again was changed to Omaha, Nebraska where it has remained ever since.
World Series Winners & Most Outstanding Player
MOP = Most Outstanding Player
1947: California defeats Yale 8-7
1948: Southern California defeats Yale 9-2
1949: Texas defeats Wake Forest 10-3 MOP: Tom Hamilton, Sr. 1B, Texas
1950: Texas defeats Washington State 3-0 | MOP: Ray VanCleef, Jr. Of Rutgers
1951: Oklahoma defeats Tennessee 3-2 | MOP: Sidney Hatfield, Jr. 1B/P Tennessee
1952: Holy Cross defeats Missouri 8-4 | MOP: James O’Neill Sr. P Holy Cross
1953: Michigan defeats Texas 7-5 | MOP: J.L. Smith, Jr. P Texas
1954: Missouri defeats Rollins 4-1 | MOP: Tom Yewcic, Sr. C Michigan State
1955: Wake Forest defeats Western Michigan 7-6 | MOP: Tom Borland, Sr. P Oklahoma St.
1956: Minnesota defeats Arizona 12-1 | MOP: Jerry Thomas, Jr. P Minnesota
1957: California defeats Penn State 1-0 | MOP: Cal Emery, So. 1B/P Penn State
1958: Southern California defeats Missouri 8-7 | MOP: Bill Thom, Jr. P Southern California
1959: Oklahoma State defeats Arizona 5-0 | MOP: Jim Dobson, So. 3B Oklahoma St.
1960: Minnesota defeats Southern California 2-1 | MOP: John Erickson, Sr. 2B Minnesota
1961: Southern California defeats Oklahoma State 1-0 | MOP: Littleton Fowler, So. P Oklahoma St.
1962: Michigan defeats Santa Clara 5-4 | MOP: Bob Garibaldi, So. P Santa Clara
1963: Southern California defeats Arizona 5-2 | MOP: Bud Hollowell, Jr. C Southern California
1964: Minnesota defeats Missouri 5-1 | MOP: Joe Ferris, So. P Maine
1965: Arizona State defeats Ohio State 2-0 | MOP: Sal Bando, Sr. 3B Arizona St.
1966: Ohio State defeats Oklahoma State 8-2 | MOP: Steve Arlin, Jr. P Ohio State
1967: Arizona State defeats Houston 11-0 | MOP: Ron Davini, Jr. C Arizona State
1968: Southern California defeats Southern Illinois 4-3 | MOP: Bill Seinsoth, Jr. 1B Southern California
1969: Arizona State defeats Tulsa 10-1 | MOP: John Dolinsek, Jr. OF Arizona State
1970: Southern California defeats Florida State 2-1 (in 15 innings) | MOP: Gene Ammann, Jr. P Florida State
1971: Southern California defeats Southern Illinois 5-2 | MOP: Jerry Tabb, Fr. 1B Tulsa
1972: Southern California defeats Arizona State 1-0 | MOP: Russ McQueen, So. P Southern California
1973: Southern California defeats Arizona State 4-3 | MOP: Dave Winfield, Sr. OF/P Minnesota
1974: Southern California defeats Miami(Fla.) 7-3 | MOP: George Milke, So. P Southern California
1975: Texas defeats South Carolina 5-1 | MOP: Mickey Reichenbach, So. 1B Texas
1976: Arizona defeats Eastern Michigan 7-1 | MOP: Steve Powers, Sr. DH/P Arizona
1977: Arizona State defeats South Carolina 2-1 | MOP: Bob Horner, So. 2B Arizona St.
1978: Southern California defeats Arizona State 10-3 | MOP: Rod Boxberger, Jr. P Southern California
1979: Cal St. Fullerton defeats Arkansas 2-1 | MOP: Tony Hudson, So. P Cal St. Fullerton
1980: Arizona defeats Hawaii 5-3 | MOP: Terry Francona, Jr. OF Arizona
1981: Arizona State defeats Oklahoma State 7-4 | MOP: Stan Holmes, Sr. OF Arizona St.
1982: Miami(Fla.) defeats Wichita State 9-3 | MOP: Dan Smith, Jr. P Miami(Fla.)
1983: Texas defeats Alabama 4-3 | MOP: Calvin Schiraldi, Jr. P Texas
1984: Cal St. Fullerton defeats Texas 3-1 | MOP: John Fishel, Jr. OF Cal St. Fullerton
1985: Miami(Fla.) defeats Texas 10-6 | MOP: Greg Ellena, Jr. DH Miami(Fla.)
1986: Arizona defeats Florida State 10-2 | MOP: Mike Senne, Sr. OF Arizona
1987: Stanford defeats Oklahoma State 9-5 | MOP: Paul Carey, Fr. OF Stanford
1988: Stanford defeats Arizona State 9-4 | MOP: Lee Plemel, Sr. P Stanford
1989: Wichita State defeats Texas 5-3 | MOP: Greg Brummett, Sr. P Wichita St.
1990: Georgia defeats Oklahoma State 2-1 | MOP: Mike Rebhan, Sr. P Georgia
1991: LSU defeats Wichita State 6-3 | MOP: Gary Hymel, Sr. C LSU
1992: Pepperdine defeats Cal St. Fullerton 3-2 | MOP: PHil Nevin, Jr. 3B Cal St. Fullerton
1993: LSU defeats Wichita State 8-0 | MOP: Todd Walker, So. 2B LSU
1994: Oklahoma defeats Georgia Tech 13-5 | MOP: Chip Glass, Sr. OF Oklahoma
1995: Cal St. Fullerton defeats Southern California 11-5 | MOP: Mark Kotsay, So. OF/P Cal St. Fullerton
1996: LSU defeats Miami(Fla.) 9-8 | MOP: Pat Burrell, Fr. 3B Miami(Fla.)
1997: LSU defeats Alabama 13-6 | MOP: Brandon Larson, Jr. SS LSU
1998: Southern California defeats Arizona State 21-14 | MOP: Wes Rachels, Sr. 2B Southern California
1999: Miami(Fla.) defeats Florida State 6-5 | MOP: Marshall McDougall, Jr. 2B Florida St.
2000: LSU defeats Stanford 6-5 | MOP: Trey Hodges, Sr. P LSU
2001: Miami(Fla.) defeats Stanford 12-1 | MOP: Charlton Jimerson, Sr. OF Miami(Fla.)
2002: Texas defeats South Carolina 12-6 | MOP: Huston Street, Fr. P Texas
2003: Rice defeats Stanford 14-2 | MOP: John Hudgins, Jr. P Stanford
2004: Cal St. Fullerton defeats Texas 3-2 | MOP: Jason Windsor, Sr. P Cal St. Fullerton
2005: Texas defeats Florida 6-2 | MOP: David Maroul, Sr. 3B Texas
2006: Oregon State defeats North Carolina 3-2 | MOP: Jonah Nickerson, Jr. P Oregon St.
2007: Oregon State defeats North Carolina 9-3 | MOP: Jorge Reyes, Fr. P Oregon St.
2008: Fresno State defeats Georgia 6-1 | MOP: Tommy Mendonca, So. 3B Fresno St.
2009: LSU defeats Texas 11-4 | MOP: Jared Mitchell, Jr. OF LSU
2010: South Carolina defeats UCLA 2-1 (in 11 innings) | MOP: Jackie Bradley Jr. So. OF South Carolina
2011: South Carolina defeats Florida 5-2 | MOP: Scott Wingo, Sr. 2B South Carolina
2012: Arizona defeats South Carolina 4-1 | MOP: Robert Refsnyder, Jr. OF Arizona
2013: UCLA defeats Mississippi State 8-0 | MOP: Adam Plutko, Jr. P UCLA
2014: Vanderbilt defeats Virginia 3-2 | MOP: Dansby Swanson, So. 2B Vanderbilt
2015: Virginia defeats Vanderbilt 4-2 | MOP: Josh Sborz, Jr. P Virginia
2016: Coastal Carolina defeats Arizona 4-3 | MOP: Andrew Beckwith, Jr. P Coastal Carolina
2017: Florida defeats LSU 6-1 | MOP: Alex Faedo, Jr. P Florida