Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event.
Four regions held a four team, double-elimination tournament while the remaining four regions included six teams, resulting in 40 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.
[1] The fortieth tournament's champion was Arizona, coached by Jerry Kindall.
The Most Outstanding Player was Mike Senne of Arizona.
[2] The winners of each Regional advanced to the College World Series.