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