DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 21st year with its 2018 weekly surveys and in the first regular-season poll of 2018, the top three remain the same from the preseason poll, with Florida at No. 1, Oregon State at No. 2 and Texas Tech at No. 3.
Coach Kevin OSullivan·s Florida Gators (3-0) were the preseason favorite and are No. 1 in the first regular-season poll after going 3-0 over the weekend as they swept Siena, outscoring the Saints, 36-5. The Gators are coming off their initial NCAA World Series victory in 2017 at Omaha, Neb., and a final 52-19 overall record.
Oregon State, which was tops nationally for most of the 2017 season and ended with the most victories (56) in DI baseball, remained ranked No. 2 for the second-straight week as they went undefeated in the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz., over the weekend.
Rounding out the top three is Texas Tech, who had a strong start the 2018 season, going 4-0 against the University of Maine.
Spots four through 10 went through some shuffling this week, as Arkansas jumped up to four from six and Florida State dropped back to five. Entering the top 10 was Stanford, who comes in at No. 9 after sweeping Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series. The only team to drop out of the preseason top 10 after opening weekend was Cal State Fullerton, who fell from No. 10 to No. 22.
The 2018 poll voters come from among 35 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. After a preseason Top 35 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national Top 30 beginning with the Feb. 19 NCBWA DI survey.
The current survey has representation by 12 different conferences among the 299 baseball-playing schools in the 2018 NCAA Division I ranks. The rankings of 2017 had 13 different DI conferences rated at least one week. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to ncbwa.com.
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.