2016 NCAA Division I baseball tournament
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 in Omaha, Nebraska, starting on June 18, 2016, and ending on June 30, 2016. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of 298 eligible teams. 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]. The Atlantic Coast Conference set a conference record and tied the all-time mark of having ten teams in the championship field. A tournament-high seven regional hosts came from the Southeastern Conference, followed by six of the ten ACC schools; however, only Miami and Florida 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, was the westernmost regional host city picked by the selection committee.
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. Coastal Carolina won the deciding game, 4–3, becoming the first team since 1956 to win the title in its first CWS appearance. 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. 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.
This was the first, and as of 2025, only, national championship won by the Coastal Carolina athletic program in any sport. In addition, this remains the only team national championship won in any sport by a member of the Big South Conference
Bids
Automatic bids
By conference
| Conference | Total | Schools |
| ACC | 10 | Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest |
| SEC | 7 | Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt |
| Conference USA | 4 | Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Southern Miss |
| Pac-12 | 4 | Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Washington |
| American | 3 | East Carolina, Tulane, UConn |
| Big Ten | 3 | Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State |
| Big 12 | 3 | Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech |
| Big West | 3 | Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara |
| Colonial | 2 | UNC Wilmington, William & Mary |
| Southland | 2 | Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana |
| Sun Belt | 2 | Louisiana–Lafayette, South Alabama |
| West Coast | 2 | Gonzaga, Saint Mary's |
| America East | 1 | Binghamton |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | Rhode Island |
| Atlantic Sun | 1 | Stetson |
| Big East | 1 | Xavier |
| Big South | 1 | Coastal Carolina |
| Horizon | 1 | Wright State |
| Ivy | 1 | Princeton |
| MAAC | 1 | Fairfield |
| Mid-American | 1 | Western Michigan |
| MEAC | 1 | Bethune-Cookman |
| Missouri Valley | 1 | Dallas Baptist |
| Mountain West | 1 | New Mexico |
| NEC | 1 | Bryant |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | Southeast Missouri State |
| Patriot | 1 | Navy |
| Southern | 1 | Western Carolina |
| SWAC | 1 | Alabama State |
| Summit | 1 | Oral Roberts |
| WAC | 1 | Utah Valley |
National seeds
The following eight teams automatically host a Super Regional if they advance to that round:- 2016 [Florida Gators baseball team|Florida]
- Louisville ‡
- 2016 [Miami Hurricanes baseball team|Miami (FL)]
- 2016 [Texas A&M Aggies baseball team|Texas A&M] ‡
- 2016 [Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball team|Texas Tech]
- 2016 [Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team|Mississippi State] ‡
- Clemson †
- ‡
† indicates teams that were eliminated in the Regional Tournament
‡ indicates teams that were eliminated in the Super Regional Tournament
Regionals and Super Regionals
''Bold indicates winner. Seeds for regional tournaments indicate seeds within regional. Seeds for super regional tournaments indicate national seeds only.''Louisville Super Regional
This regional had high drama when UC Santa Barbara trailed Louisville 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 2 of the super regional final. The Gauchos loaded the bases off all-American reliever Zack Burdi and then back up catcher Sam Cohen hit a pinch hit grand slam to send the Gauchos to Omaha for the first time.College World Series
The College World Series was held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.Bracket
Seeds listed below indicate national seeds onlyAll-Tournament Team
The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.| Position | Player | School |
| P | Andrew Beckwith | Coastal Carolina |
| P | J. C. Cloney | Arizona |
| C | David Parrett | Coastal Carolina |
| 1B | Ryan Aguilar | Arizona |
| 2B | Cody Ramer | Arizona |
| 3B | Zach Remillard | Coastal Carolina |
| SS | Ryan Merrill | TCU |
| OF | Anthony Marks | Coastal Carolina |
| OF | Zach Gibbons | Arizona |
| OF | Jared Oliva | Arizona |
| DH | Luken Baker | TCU |
Final standings
Seeds listed below indicate national seeds only| Place | School | Record |
| 1st | Coastal Carolina | 11–3 |
| 2nd | Arizona | 11–4 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma State | 7–2 |
| 3rd | TCU | 7–3 |
| 5th | UC Santa Barbara | 6–2 |
| 5th | 5 Texas Tech | 6–4 |
| 7th | 1 Florida | 5–3 |
| 7th | 3 Miami | 5–3 |
| 9th | Boston College | 4–2 |
| 9th | East Carolina | 4–2 |
| 9th | Florida State | 4–2 |
| 9th | 2 Louisville | 3–2 |
| 9th | 8 LSU | 3–3 |
| 9th | 6 Mississippi State | 3–2 |
| 9th | South Carolina | 4–3 |
| 9th | 4 Texas A&M | 4–2 |
| 17th | Arizona State | 2–2 |
| 17th | 7 Clemson | 2–2 |
| 17th | Dallas Baptist | 3–2 |
| 17th | Georgia Tech | 2–2 |
| 17th | Long Beach State | 2–2 |
| 17th | Louisiana–Lafayette | 2–2 |
| 17th | Louisiana Tech | 2–2 |
| 17th | Minnesota | 2–2 |
| 17th | NC State | 3–2 |
| 17th | Rice | 3–2 |
| 17th | South Alabama | 2–2 |
| 17th | Tulane | 2–2 |
| 17th | UNC Wilmington | 2–2 |
| 17th | William & Mary | 2–2 |
| 17th | Wright State | 2–2 |
| 17th | Xavier | 2–2 |
| 33rd | Cal State Fullerton | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Connecticut | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Florida Atlantic | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Gonzaga | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Navy | 1–2 |
| 33rd | New Mexico | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Ohio State | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Rhode Island | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Sam Houston State | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Southeastern Louisiana | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Southern Miss | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Utah | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Virginia | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Wake Forest | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Washington | 1–2 |
| 33rd | Western Carolina | 1–2 |
| 49th | Alabama State | 0–2 |
| 49th | Bethune-Cookman | 0–2 |
| 49th | Binghamton | 0–2 |
| 49th | Bryant | 0–2 |
| 49th | Duke | 0–2 |
| 49th | Fairfield | 0–2 |
| 49th | Nebraska | 0–2 |
| 49th | Ole Miss | 0–2 |
| 49th | Oral Roberts | 0–2 |
| 49th | Princeton | 0–2 |
| 49th | Saint Mary's | 0–2 |
| 49th | Southeast Missouri State | 0–2 |
| 49th | Stetson | 0–2 |
| 49th | Utah Valley | 0–2 |
| 49th | Vanderbilt | 0–2 |
| 49th | Western Michigan | 0–2 |
Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.Nc is non–conference records, i.e., with the records of teams within the same conference having played each other removed.
Media coverage
Radio
provided nationwide radio coverage of the College World Series through its Omaha station KOZN, in association with Westwood One. It was streamed at and on TuneIn. Kevin Kugler and John Bishop called all games leading up to the Championship Series with Gary Sharp acting as the field reporter. The Championship Series was called by Kugler, Bishop, and Scott Graham. Ted Emrich acted as field reporter for Games 1 & 2.Television
carried every game from the Regionals, Super Regionals, and College World Series across its networks. During the Regionals, ESPN offered a dedicated channel, ESPN Bases Loaded, which carried live look-ins and analysis across all games in progress, hosted by Brendan Fitzgerald and Matt Schick with Kyle Peterson providing analysis.The final game of the tournament aired on ESPNU, as the NCAA scheduled the game for an afternoon start, and there were scheduling conflicts with ESPN and ESPN2 due to UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.
Broadcast assignments
Regionals- Mike Morgan and Carlos Peña: Gainesville, Florida
- Trey Bender and Jerry Kindall: Tallahassee, Florida
- Steve Lenox and : Raleigh, North Carolina
- and Ben McDonald: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Mark Neely and Greg Swindell: Lubbock, Texas
- and Nick Belmonte: Charlottesville, Virginia
- Roxy Bernstein and Keith Moreland: Fort Worth, Texas
- Clay Matvick and Gabe Gross: College Station, Texas
- Dave Neal, Chris Burke, and Kaylee Hartung: Gainesville, Florida
- Mike Couzens and Nick Belmonte: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements: Lubbock, Texas
- Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson, and Laura Rutledge: College Station, Texas
- Jon Sciambi, Alex Cora, Dallas Braden or Kyle Peterson, and Kaylee Hartung : Afternoons, Wed night
- Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, Kyle Peterson, and Kaylee Hartung: Evenings minus Wed
- Dave Neal and Chris Burke: Louisville, Kentucky
- Mike Keith and Rusty Ensor: Nashville, Tennessee
- Matt Stewart and Jay Walker: Columbia, South Carolina
- Tom Hart and Mike Rooney: Clemson, South Carolina
- Doug Sherman and John Gregory: Starkville, Mississippi
- Brett Dolan and Tom Holliday: Lafayette, Louisiana
- Richard Cross and David Dellucci: Oxford, Mississippi
- Anish Shroff and Alex Cora: Miami, Florida
- Mike Morgan and Mike Rooney: Louisville, Kentucky
- Mark Neely and Todd Walker: Columbia, South Carolina
- Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald: Starkville, Mississippi
- Anish Shroff and Alex Cora: Miami, Florida
- Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, Kyle Peterson, Kaylee Hartung, and Alex Cora