The 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season play of college baseball in the United States, organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 22, 2008. The season was the first to have a uniform start date for both southern and northern teams. The change from previous seasons, in which weather allowed southern teams to begin play weeks before northern teams, was an attempt to improve parity between warm-weather and cold-weather teams.[1][2] The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2008 College World Series. The College World Series, which consisted of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament, was held in its annual location of Omaha, Nebraska, at Rosenblatt Stadium. It concluded on June 25, 2008, with the final game of the best of three championship series. Fresno State defeated Georgia two games to one to claim their first championship. Fresno State was the first team seeded fourth in its regional tournament to win a national championship since the NCAA tournament adopted the current 64-team format in 1999.[3]
Entering the 2008 baseball season, the Mid-Continent Conference was renamed The Summit League.[9] The renamed conference was one of several conferences to make membership changes.
The 2008 season marked the sixty second 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 Fresno State claiming their first championship with a two games to one series win over Georgia in the final.
^"College Baseball Plays Waiting Game with Uniform Start Date". USAToday.com. The Associated Press. February 15, 2008. Archived from the original on November 3, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2012. The new NCAA uniform starting date for Division I baseball was established with the intent to create competitive balance among northern and southern teams.
^"Florida Gulf Coast University Football Feasibility Study"(PDF). FGCU.edu. Carr Sports Associates, Inc. January 18, 2011. p. I-1. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 20, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012. Responding to scheduling and conference membership limitations in NCAA Division II (Division II), FGCU strategically applied for membership in NCAA Division I in January, 2006, and was soon accepted into the Atlantic Sun Conference, effective 2007-2008.
^ ab"NCCU Gains Full NCAA Division I Membership". NCCU.edu. August 11, 2011. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2012. The Eagles captured eight conference team titles in their final two seasons as a Division II member in the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) before competing as an independent without conference affiliation starting in the fall of 2007.
^"NCAA Grants USC Upstate Full Division I Certification". News.USCUpstate.com. August 12, 2011. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2012. During the department's first year of Division I play in 2007-08, ... the baseball team posted a 17–16 record in conference play.
^ abBarnette, Drew (October 14, 2007). "BX Summit League Preview and Notes". DraftExpress.com. Retrieved June 24, 2012. This league was formerly known as the Mid Continental Conference. Valparaiso jumped ship and joined the Horizon League, and they were replaced by IPFW, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
^Wilder, Stephen (December 8, 2011). "It's Official: NKU Is Going Division I". TheNortherner.com. Retrieved June 24, 2012. The addition is the first expansion for the Atlantic Sun since 2007 when the University of South Carolina Upstate and Florida Gulf Coast University joined the league.
