Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Baseball Named Nation's Best Program by NCAA Baseball Fans

The Diamond Dawgs have been hailed the most prestigious program in the nation over the last five years thanks to a long list of recent accolades.

Elizabeth Keen

Mississippi State baseball has been named the nation's best college baseball program over the last five years by NCAA Baseball Fans. 

The group ranked the top eight teams over the last five years by tying program accomplishments into a set of statistics to determine success. MSU was placed at the top of the totem pole with one national championship, three trips to the College World Series in Omaha, four Super Regional appearances and four NCAA postseason appearances since the 2017 season. 

The Diamond Dawgs were the only group to score a perfect 100 five-year grade, and they also received five stars. Next on the list was Vanderbilt, a program that also finished with five stars but had a 99 overall grade due to having one less Omaha appearance than Mississippi State. 

Despite not having a national championship, Arkansas finished in third place with a 97.5 overall score and 4.75 stars. The Razorbacks were the only other team to have three Omaha trips along with four Super Regional appearances. Both Vanderbilt and Arkansas also had one SEC Regular Season Championship and one SEC Tournament Championship apiece. 

The first non-SEC team listed in the rankings was Oregon State, which finished in fourth place overall with a score of 97. The Beavers have picked up one title since 2017 to go along with two Omaha appearances, three trips to the Super Regionals and a postseason berth in each of the last five years. 

Texas rounded out the top five with an overall grade of 95 with three appearances in both Omaha and the Super Regionals. The Longhorns only missed the postseason once and were Big 12 Conference champions twice. 

Florida hasn't had an outstanding past two seasons, but the Gators did enough to rank as the sixth most prestigious program in the nation. They won the national championship in 2017 and have reached Omaha and the Super Regionals twice, giving them a 94 overall grade. 

Ole Miss shot up in the rankings with a score of 91.5 after an incredible run through the College World Series this year that resulted in the program's first-ever title. The Rebels have been to Omaha just once in the past five years but reached the Super Regionals three times and made the overall tournament four times. 

The last team to make the top eight was the Louisville Cardinals. The program has made the NCAA Tournament four times, picking up three Super Regional appearances and reaching Omaha twice during that span. The Cardinals have also won the Regular Season ACC Conference title three times since 2017 -- a feat that is impressive on its own. 

Even with a difficult 2022 season thrown in the mix, Mississippi State was still ranked the most prestigious team in the nation over the last five seasons. The Diamond Dawgs will have plenty of work to do to continue that success heading into 2023. A group of talented returning players and some incredible names joining the team from the transfer portal could mean that the program continues to build a name for itself in the coming years. 

Published
Elizabeth Keen
ELIZABETH KEEN

Journalist for Mississippi State Cowbell Corner

Home/Baseball