DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 25th year with its 2022 weekly surveys.
NCAA champ Ole Miss wears the crown in this season-ending survey. This was the first NCAA diamond crown for the Rebels as they downed No. 2 Oklahoma 4-2 in the June 26 finals. Neither of the top two NCAA finishers was among the Top 16 seeds in the NCAA tourney draw, though UM began the season at 13-2 and was ranked No. 2 in four different NCBWA regular-season polls.
The Rebels dominated the NCAA Championships on the mound, while allowing just 25 runs in their final 11 contests –only 14 in six NCAA World Series tussles while going 5-1 and sweeping the championship round 2-0 in games. Ole Miss also climbed all the way from fifth place in the rugged Southeastern Conference West Division regular-season standings to the NCAA laurel.
The streaking Sooners also were not ranked until the May 23 NCBWA survey when they emerged at No. 26 but came on to capture 12 of their last 15 games – all on the road in Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. OU received votes in the pre-2022 rankings after going 27-28 in 2021. Ole Miss was No. 6 in the preseason survey after going 45-22 in ’21 and being ranked No. 11 in the final poll last year.
The somewhat-inexact science of poll voting and selection has included NCBWA preseason selections of LSU in the 1998 and 2001 polls, Southern California (1999), Miami (Fla.) (2000), Stanford (2002), Rice (2004, 07), Texas in 2003, ’06, ’10, and ’22, Cal State Fullerton (2005, 14), Arizona State (2008), North Carolina (2009), TCU (2011, 17), Florida (2012, 18, 21), Arkansas (2013), and Vanderbilt (2015, 19, 20).
Teams from that NCBWA pre-campaign poll that eventually won the NCAA crown have been LSU in 2009 and Vanderbilt in 2019. This was the 22nd consecutive NCAA Baseball Championship when the tourney’s No. 1 seed did not take the title. Miami was the last to accomplish this in 1999.
Some of the big poll movers from Week 17 to the final survey were Ole Miss from No. 19 to 1, Oklahoma from No. 12 to 2, Arkansas from No. 10 to 3, and Auburn from No. 8 to 6, among others.
There have been 19 conferences (with 11 in this week’s survey) represented in the 18 standings of 2022, and there also were 14 different conferences in all the 2021 NCBWA polls.
The final DI poll caps a two-week celebration of NCBWA honors – the 2022 Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear to Texas 1B Ivan Melendez, the NCBWA Stopper of the Year to Tristan Stivors of Texas State and the NCBWA Mike Martin Coach of the Year to Link Jarrett of Notre Dame prior to Jarrett being tabbed as head coach at Florida State later this month.
The 2022 poll voters come from among 33 college baseball writers and related media members from throughout the nation. The ’22 season features 301 NCAA Division I baseball-playing schools, and for more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to ncbwa.com.
| 2022 NCBWA DIVISION I POLL (FINAL) | ||||
| Rk. | School | Conference | Record | Pvs. |
| 1. | Ole Miss | SEC | 42-23 | 19 |
| 2. | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 45-24 | 12 |
| 3. | Arkansas | SEC | 46-21 | 10 |
| 4. | Texas A&M | SEC | 44-20 | 5 |
| 5. | Notre Dame | ACC | 41-17 | 6 |
| 6. | Auburn | SEC | 43-22 | 8 |
| 7. | Stanford | Pac-12 | 47-18 | 2 |
| 8. | Texas | Big 12 | 47-22 | 7 |
| 9. | Tennessee | SEC | 57-9 | 1 |
| 10. | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 48-18 | 3 |
| 11. | Southern Miss | Conference USA | 47-19 | 13 |
| 12. | Louisville | ACC | 42-21-1 | 11 |
| 13. | Virginia Tech | ACC | 45-14 | 4 |
| 14. | East Carolina | American Athletic | 46-21 | 9 |
| 15. | North Carolina | ACC | 42-22 | 15 |
| 16. | Connecticut | Big East | 50-16 | 14 |
| 17. | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 42-22 | 16 |
| 18. | Texas State | Sun Belt | 47-14 | 18 |
| 19. | Maryland | Big Ten | 48-14 | 17 |
| 20. | Miami | ACC | 40-20 | 22 |
| 21. | LSU | SEC | 40-22 | 23 |
| 22. | Florida | SEC | 42-24 | 20 |
| 23. | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 39-22 | 24 |
| 24. | Vanderbilt | SEC | 39-23 | 25 |
| 25. | TCU | Big 12 | 38-22 | 27 |
| 26. | Gonzaga | West Coast | 37-19 | 28 |
| 27. | UCLA | Pac-12 | 40-24 | 21 |
| 28. | UC Santa Barbara | Big West | 44-14 | 26 |
| 29. | Georgia Southern | Sun Belt | 41-20 | RV |
| 30. | Virginia | ACC | 39-19 | 30 |
| Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama State (34-25), Arizona (39-25), Cal Poly (37-21), Campbell (41-19), Coastal Carolina (39-20-1), Columbia (32-18), Dallas Baptist (34-24-1), Florida State (34-25), Georgia (36-23), Georgia Tech (36-24), Grand Canyon (41-21), Kentucky (33-26), Louisiana (37-23), Louisiana Tech (43-21), Michigan (34-28), NC State (36-21), Oregon (36-25), VCU (42-20), Wake Forest (41-19-1), Wright State (30-27). | ||||
| Dropped out: Arizona (29). | ||||
| By conference: SEC 8, ACC 6, Big 12 5,Pac-12 3, American Athletic 1, Big East 1, Big Ten 1, Big West 1, Conference USA 1, Sun Belt 2, West Coast 1. | ||||
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.