The 2003 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held May 30 through June 23, . Sixty-four

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the NCAA tournament. The tournament culminated with 8 teams in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

at historic

Rosenblatt Stadium Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the Triple-A Omaha Royals (now Storm Chasers). It was the largest minor league ballpark in the Unit ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, which held the rights to the College World Series, began televising super regional games in 2003. As part of the contract with ESPN, four super regionals would begin on Friday and run through Sunday, while the other four super regionals would begin Saturday and run through Monday. The 2003 College World Series saw a format change and the championship was decided by a best-of-three series. From 1950 through 1987, the College World Series was a true double elimination tournament. From 1988 through 2002, there were two double elimination pools, with the winner of each facing off in a one game championship. In the 2003 championship series,

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

defeated

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

two games to one. John Hudgins became the 16th player to win the

College World Series Most Outstanding Player The Men's College World Series Most Outstanding Player is an award for the best individual performance during the NCAA Division I Men's College World Series (MCWS) in Omaha, Nebraska. The recipient of the award is announced at the completion of ...

Award from a losing team.

Bids

Automatic bids

Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees.

Bids by conference

Tournament notes

* UC Riverside, Illinois-Chicago, and UNC Wilmington were making their first NCAA tournament appearance.

CWS records tied or broken

*Total attendance: 260,091 *Largest margin of victory in a championship game: 12 *Stanford became the first team to lose three games at one College World Series.

National seeds

''Bold indicates CWS participant.'' # # # # #

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

# Miami (FL)

Regionals and super regionals

Bold indicates winner.

Tallahassee Super Regional

Baton Rouge Super Regional

Columbia Super Regional

Columbus Super Regional

Houston Super Regional

The Houston Super Regional was hosted by Rice at

Reckling Park Reckling Park is the baseball stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, US. It serves as the home field of the Rice Owls baseball team. The stadium was built on the site of Cameron Field, Rice's home from 1978 to 1999, in time for the 20 ...

Palo Alto Super Regional

Fullerton Super Regional

Coral Gables Super Regional

College World Series

Participants

Bracket

Championship series

Saturday 6/21 Game #1

Sunday 6/22 Game #2

Monday 6/23 Game #3

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.

References

{{2003 NCAA Division I baseball tournament navbox NCAA Division I baseball tournament

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team College World Series, Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwa ...

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