1997 College World Series, the 51st, a double-elimination tournament of eight regional champions held in Omaha, Nebraska, at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. LSU claimed its second consecutive and fourth total Division I championship.[1]
Realignment
The Big Eight Conference merged with four members of the Southwest Conference (Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech) to form the Big 12 Conference.
Format changes
The Big West Conference divided into two divisions of four, called Northern and Southern.
Conference winners
This is a list of conference champions from the 1997 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Each of the eight regionals consisted of six teams competing in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. In order to provide all conference champions with an automatic bid, 10 conference champions participated in a play-in round. The five winners joined the other 19 conference champions with automatic bids, and 32 other teams earned at-large selections.[1][2]
The 1997 season marked the fifty first NCAA baseball tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with LSU claiming their fourth championship with a 13–6 win over Alabama in the final.[1]