DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of
NCAA Division I polls for the 22nd year with its 2019 weekly surveys
and Vanderbilt tops the preseason poll for 2019,
followed by LSU at No. 2 and Texas Tech at No. 3.
Vanderbilt was preseason No. 1 in 2015 and the last time the
Commodores topped the poll was April 6, 2015. In 2019, head coach
Tim Corbin's squad returns eight of nine position players from the
2018 squad that advanced to the Super Regionals and came up one
victory shy of reaching the College World Series.
Previous No. 1 entries on the preseason NCBWA rankings have been
LSU in the 1998, 2001 and 2009 polls, Southern California (1999),
Miami (Fla.) (2000), Stanford (2002), Texas (2003, '06, '10), Rice
(2004, '07), Cal State Fullerton (2005, '14), Arizona State (2008),
North Carolina (2009), TCU (2011, '17), Florida (2012, '18), Arkansas
(2013), and Vanderbilt (2015).
LSU was selected second as they bring to the table a talented
squad to the table in 2019, followed by Texas Tech at No. 3. The
Red Raiders finished the 2018 season by advancing to the College
World Series for the third time in five years.
Two Pac-12 squads are next, as UCLA comes in at No. 4, followed
by Oregon State, the reigning College World Series champions at
No. 5.
Florida, who finished the 2018 season at No. 3 in the polls is
the third SEC team in the top 10 coming in at No. 6, followed by
North Carolina at No. 7. The third Pac-12 school in the top 10 is
Stanford as preseason No. 8. Louisville and Florida State make it
three ACC schools in the top 10 coming in at No. 9 and 10, respectively.
UCLA is the biggest mover in the poll, jumping up 22 spots to
No. 4 after ending 2018 at No. 26. Louisville rose 18 spots to No.
9 after finishing 2018 at No. 27. Preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt was
also a big mover, jumping up 15 spots from No. 16 in 2018.
The 2019 poll voters come from among 35 college baseball writers
and related media persons from throughout the nation. After a preseason
Top 40 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national
Top 30 beginning with the Feb. 18 NCBWA DI survey.
The current survey has representation by 12 different conferences
among the 299 baseball-playing schools in the 2019 NCAA Division
I ranks. The rankings of 2018 had 15 different DI conferences rated
at least one week. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please
go to ncbwa.com.
2019 NCBWA DIVISION I PRESEASON POLL (FEB. 4) |
1. |
Vanderbilt |
SEC |
35-27 |
6 |
2. |
LSU |
SEC |
39-27 |
– |
3. |
Texas Tech |
Big 12 |
45-20 |
5 |
4. |
UCLA |
Pac-12 |
38-21 |
26 |
5. |
Oregon State |
Pac-12 |
53-11-1 |
1 |
6. |
Florida |
SEC |
49-21 |
3 |
7. |
North Carolina |
ACC |
44-20 |
6 |
8. |
Stanford |
Pac-12 |
46-12 |
17 |
9. |
Louisville |
ACC |
45-19 |
27 |
10. |
Florida State |
ACC |
43-19 |
22 |
11. |
Ole Miss |
SEC |
48-17 |
18 |
12. |
Georgia |
SEC |
39-21 |
20 |
13. |
Mississippi State |
SEC |
39-29 |
4 |
14. |
East Carolina |
American Athletic |
44-18 |
23 |
15. |
Arkansas |
SEC |
47-19 |
2 |
16. |
Baylor |
Big 12 |
37-21 |
– |
17. |
Clemson |
ACC |
47-16 |
19 |
18. |
Texas |
Big 12 |
42-23 |
7 |
19. |
Auburn |
SEC |
43-23 |
10 |
20. |
Oklahoma State |
Big 12 |
31-26-1 |
– |
21. |
TCU |
Big 12 |
33-23 |
– |
22. |
Coastal Carolina |
Sun Belt |
43-19 |
24 |
23. |
Michigan |
Big Ten |
33-20 |
– |
24. |
Cal State Fullerton |
Big West |
36-25 |
14 |
25. |
Duke |
ACC |
45-18 |
9 |
26. |
Southern Miss |
Conference USA |
44-18 |
25 |
27. |
Minnesota |
Big Ten |
43-15 |
15 |
28. |
Wake Forest |
ACC |
25-32 |
– |
29. |
UC Irvine |
Big West |
32-24 |
– |
30. |
N.C. State |
ACC |
42-18 |
21 |
31. |
Georgia Tech |
ACC |
31-27 |
– |
32. |
Arizona |
Pac-12 |
34-22 |
– |
33. |
Florida Atlantic |
Conference USA |
43-19-1 |
29 |
34. |
Washington |
Pac-12 |
35-26 |
8 |
35. |
UConn |
American Athletic |
37-22-1 |
– |
36. |
Missouri State |
Missouri Valley |
40-17 |
– |
37. |
Indiana |
Big Ten |
40-19 |
29 |
38. |
Tennessee Tech |
Ohio Valley |
53-12 |
11 |
39. |
San Diego State |
Mountain West |
39-21 |
– |
40. |
Houston |
American Athletic |
38-25 |
– |
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically):
Arizona State (23-32), Dallas Baptist (42-21), Elon
(36-23), Gonzaga (33-24), Houston Baptist (29-30),
Illinois (32-20), Kentucky (34-22), Louisiana (34-25),
Louisiana Tech (39-20), Miami (Fla.) (28-26), North
Carolina A&T (32-25), Ohio State (36-24), Oklahoma
(38-25), Oral Roberts (38-20), Oregon (26-29), Saint
John's (40-17), South Alabama (32-25), South Carolina
(37-26), Stetson (48-13), Stony Brook (32-25), Texas
A&M (40-22), Troy (42-21), UNCW (39-23). |
By conference: ACC 8, SEC 8, Big 12 5, Pac-12
5, American Athletic 3, Big Ten 3, Big West 2, Conference
USA 2, Missouri Valley 1, Mountain West 1, Ohio
Valley 1, Sun Belt 1. |
Records are from the 2018 season; Previous rank
is from final 2018 poll |
|
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of
college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and
publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory,
newsletter updates and official votes in the Dick Howser Trophy,
Regional Players of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA
also sponsors Division I Players of the Week, the Stopper of the
Year, and publication and writing contests.
|