After finishing the 2018 season tied for third at the College World Series, the Mississippi State baseball team is ranked 14th by D1baseball.com.
The 2018 Mississippi State baseball season was one of the biggest roller coaster rides we have experienced as Bulldog fans. The team went from being swept by Southern Miss in the opening series and having their head coach fired due to off filed issues all the way to finishing in a tie for third place at the College World Series.
The run to Omaha by the Mississippi State baseball team was exciting not only for last year, but also the 2019 season. Most of the starting lineup from the CWS team is returning, as well as a significant portion of the pitching staff.
The writers at D1baseball.com also are aware of the returning production. In their preseason poll for the 2019 season, the Mississippi State baseball team is ranked 14th.
Here is how the rest of the Top 25 shapes up by the staff at D1 Baseball.
1) Vanderbilt
2) LSU
3) Texas Tech
4) Louisville
5) UCLA
6) Florida
7) North Carolina
8) Oregon State
9) Georgia
10) Ole Miss
11) East Carolina
12) Stanford
13) Florida State
14) Mississippi State
15) Baylor
16) Arkansas
17) Michigan
18) Oklahoma State
19) TCU
20) Wake Forest
21) Coastal Carolina
22) Auburn
23) Texas
24) Clemson
25) Cal State Fullerton
For perspective, the Mississippi State baseball team might be ranked 14th in the country, but they are the 6th highest ranked team in the SEC, and the third highest ranked team in the SEC West. The SEC is always one of the toughest conferences when it comes to baseball.
This is just one poll of many for baseball, but the Bulldogs will enter the 2019 season with a significant amount of hype and preseason expectations. Can the Mississippi State baseball team live up to the hype? Time will only tell, but it should be a fun year for baseball.