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.
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.