Mississippi State Baseball Ranked No. 9 in Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll

In Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll that was released on Monday, the Diamond Dawgs sit at No. 9 in the rankings.

Mississippi State's storied baseball program started the preseason off right with a top 10 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll. 

Despite winning their first national championship in June, the Bulldogs currently sit at No. 9 on the list of 50 teams. This might seem shocking to some, but it's impressive considering how much the Diamond Dawgs have had to reload this offseason. They lost a handful of top performers in the 2021 MLB Draft-- Will Bednar, Tanner Allen and Rowdey Jordan, to name a few-- and many younger players have had to fill big shoes. 

The first two teams in the poll are programs that MSU defeated in the College World Series to claim the title. The No. 1 Texas Longhorns were defeated twice by the Bulldogs in Omaha, including in the winner-take-all game to make it to the final series. Next is Vanderbilt at No. 2-- no surprise there. The Commodores can reload easily every year, and they have a chip on their shoulder after dropping the last two games of the CWS Finals to MSU. There are two other SEC teams in the top 10: LSU at No. 3 and Florida at No. 6. Both of these come as a surprise considering how average both teams were last year, but with the history that their respective programs have, there are always high hopes for them at the beginning of the season. 

Rankings don't mean everything-- ask any former Diamond Dawg. Mississippi State also started last season ranked No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball and was not considered a major threat to make it to Omaha. That ranking doesn't mean a thing anymore, now that there's a big trophy on display in Starkville. Who knows, nine might be the Bulldogs' winning number. It's how many runs the team scored in Game Three to win the championship, after all. 

Here is a look at the complete Collegiate Baseball Top 50. 

1. Texas

2. Vanderbilt 

3. LSU

4. Texas Tech

5. Stanford

6. Florida

7. Oklahoma State 

8. East Carolina

9. Mississippi State

10. Notre Dame

11. Georgia Tech

12. Florida State 

13. TCU

14. UC Irvine

15. Louisiana Tech 

16. Central Michigan 

17. UC Santa Barbara 

18. UCLA

19. Ole Miss

20. Arkansas

21. Oregon

22. Arizona

23. Miami

24. Virginia

25. North Carolina 

26. Louisville 

27. NC State

28. Duke

29. Campbell

30. Michigan

31. Nebraska 

32. Dallas Baptist

33. Georgia 

34. Tennessee

35. Gonzaga 

36. South Alabama 

37. Liberty

38. Maryland

39. Connecticut 

40. Alabama

41. Fairfield 

42. Oregon State 

43. Arizona State 

44. South Carolina

45. Oklahoma 

46. Long Beach State 

47. Cal Poly 

48. Southern Miss

49. Old Dominion 

50. Nevada 

Mississippi State's baseball season will begin on Feb. 18 against Long Beach State in Starkville.