DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 29th year with its 2026 preseason and weekly surveys, and LSU is No. 1 for the fourth time in history after winning the 2025 NCAA championship.
The Tigers lead a solid 1-5 ranking of fellow NCAA Men’s College World Series participant UCLA at No. 2, Texas at No. 3, Georgia Tech at No. 4 and ’25 NCAA World Series entry Arkansas at No. 5.
LSU led a record 12 Southeastern Conference challengers ranked among the Top 30 (the remainder of the NCBWA DI polls will have 25 placements) while there were four different conferences and No. 11 independent Oregon State among the Top 15 poll members. The Tigers were also the first preseason No. 1 choice in the initial 1998 NCBWA survey and closed third in the NCAA World Series behind USC and Arizona State.
Previous No. 1 entries on the preseason NCBWA rankings have been LSU (1998, 2001, 2023, 2026), Southern California (1999), Miami (Fla.) (2000), Stanford (2002), Texas (2003, 06, 10, 22) Rice (2004, 07), Cal State Fullerton (2005, 14), Arizona State (2008), North Carolina (2009), TCU (2011, 17), Florida (2012, 18, 21), Arkansas (2013), Vanderbilt (2015, 19, 20), Wake Forest (2024), and Texas A&M (2025).
There are six conferences represented and independent, Oregon State, in the first 30-team survey with the Southeastern topping the list ahead of the Atlantic Coast Conference with a preseason-ACC-best nine selections. Last year there were 10 different conferences with teams in the 17 polls, while the NCBWA season record is 19 conferences represented in the 2019 surveys.
There are 69 schools from 15 conferences either ranked or receiving votes among the first Top 30 survey in ‘26, and the poll will continue with Top 25 teams starting Monday, Feb. 16. In 2021, a NCBWA-preseason-record 83 schools nabbed votes in the first survey. The final NCBWA poll will be released after the completion of the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, June 12-21/22.
| 2026 NCBWA DIVISION I PRESEASON POLL (FEB. 9) | ||||
| Rk. | School | Conference | Record | Pvs. |
| 1. | LSU | SEC | 53-15 | 1 |
| 2. | UCLA | Big Ten | 48-18 | 6 |
| 3. | Texas | SEC | 44-14 | 17 |
| 4. | Georgia Tech | ACC | 41-19 | RV |
| 5. | Arkansas | SEC | 50-15 | 3 |
| 6. | Mississippi State | SEC | 36-23 | RV |
| 7. | Coastal Carolina | Sun Belt | 56-13 | 2 |
| 8. | Auburn | SEC | 41-20 | 13 |
| 9. | TCU | Big 12 | 39-20 | RV |
| 10. | Louisville | ACC | 42-24 | 5 |
| 11. | Oregon State | Independent | 48-16-1 | 4 |
| 12. | North Carolina | ACC | 46-15 | 11 |
| 13. | Georgia | SEC | 43-17 | 19 |
| 14. | Florida State | ACC | 42-16 | 9 |
| 15. | Tennessee | SEC | 46-19 | 10 |
| 16. | Florida | SEC | 39-22 | 24 |
| 17. | Clemson | ACC | 45-18 | 22 |
| 18. | Vanderbilt | SEC | 43-18 | 18 |
| 19. | NC State | ACC | 35-21 | RV |
| 20. | Southern Miss | Sun Belt | 47-16 | 20 |
| 21. | Kentucky | SEC | 31-26 | RV |
| 22. | Miami (Fla.) | ACC | 35-27 | 15 |
| 23. | Arizona | Big 12 | 44-21 | 7 |
| 24. | Virginia | ACC | 32-18 | RV |
| 25. | Wake Forest | ACC | 39-22 | RV |
| 26. | Texas A&M | SEC | 30-26 | RV |
| 27. | West Virginia | Big 12 | 44-16 | 12 |
| 28. | Ole Miss | SEC | 43-21 | 23 |
| 29. | East Carolina | American | 35-27 | RV |
| 30. | Oregon | Big Ten | 42-16 | 21 |
| Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (41-18), Arizona State (36-24), Austin Peay (45-14), Cal Poly (43-19), Cal State Fullerton (29-27), Cincinnati (33-26), Columbia (30-19), Connecticut (38-21), Creighton (43-16), DBU (41-18), Duke (40-21), East Tennessee State (41-17), Hawai’i (31-21), Jacksonville State (37-25), Kansas (43-17), Kansas State (32-26), Mercer (35-25), Murray State (43-17), Nebraska (32-27), Northeastern (49-11), Oklahoma (38-22), Oklahoma (38-22); Oklahoma State (30-25), San Diego (28-30); Southern Illinois (37-20), Stanford (27-25), Stetson (41-22), Texas Tech (20-33), Troy (39-21), Tulane (33-25), UC Irvine (43-17), UC Santa Barbara (36-18), USC (37-23), USF (31-25), UTRGV (36-18), UTSA (47-15), WKU (46-14); Wright State (40-21), Xavier (32-27). | ||||
| Dropped out:No. 8 Murray State, No. 14 UTSA, No. 16 Duke. No. 25 Northeastern. | ||||
| By conference: SEC 12, ACC 9, Big 12 3, Big Ten 2, Sun Belt 2, Independent 1, American 1. | ||||
| Records are from the 2025 season | ||||
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.