The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Baseball Championship tournament—featuring 64 teams in the first round—which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight participating teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets, with the winners of each bracket playing in a best-of-three championship series.

History

The first edition of the College World Series was held in 1947 at Hyames Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The tournament was held there again in 1948, but was moved to Lawrence Stadium in Wichita, Kansas for the 1949 tournament. Since 1950, the College World Series (CWS) has been held in Omaha, Nebraska. It was held at Rosenblatt Stadium from 1950 through 2010; starting in 2011, it has been held at Charles Schwab Field Omaha (formerly TD Ameritrade Park Omaha). The name "College World Series" is derived from that of the Major League Baseball World Series championship; it is currently an MLB trademark licensed to the NCAA. The event's official name was changed to "Men's College World Series" no later than 2008. The most recent hosting agreement between the NCAA and the city of Omaha and related entities, signed in that year, states, "The official name of the [championship] shall be the NCAA Men's College World Series". However, as of October 2021, the CWS logo still appeared on the NCAA's official D-I baseball tournament bracket, and on the front page of the NCAA's official CWS website, without the word "Men's". The NCAA has since added "Men's" to the event's logo, and both the NCAA and College World Series of Omaha, Inc. (CWS Omaha), the nonprofit group that organizes the event, now consistently use the phrase "Men's College World Series" to describe it. On March 13, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 College World Series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first time in the event's history it had been canceled.

Contract extension

On June 10, 2008, the NCAA and CWS Omaha announced a new 25-year contract extension, keeping the MCWS in Omaha through 2035. A memorandum of understanding had been reached by all parties on April 30. The currently binding contract began in 2011, the same year the tournament moved from Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium to the venue now known as Charles Schwab Field Omaha, a new ballpark across from CHI Health Center Omaha.

Format history and changes

Results

Teams reaching the finals

Best performances by conference

Awards

The College World Series Most Outstanding Player award is presented to the best player at each College World Series finals (first awarded in 1949). An All-Tournament Team consisting of the best players of the tournament has also been announced for each tournament since 1958.

Records and statistics

All-time record for champions

Most appearances without an MCWS championship

Most MCWS participants by one conference in a year