Mississippi State Baseball No. 15 in D1 Baseball Preseason Rankings

The first preseason college baseball rankings surprisingly had Mississippi State baseball No. 11 in the nation. That was followed Tuesday by another solid slot in the polls, this time by d1baseball.com.

The diamond dogs came in at No. 15, as seven SEC teams made the top 25 including five in the top 15. The seven SEC teams in the top 25 led all conferences.

Florida was voted the No. 1 team in the land and was followed by Vandy (3), Texas A&M (4), and LSU (7) as other SEC teams to make the top 10. South Carolina came in at No. 17 and Arkansas at No. 25.

It's clear that a lot of outlets are high on MSU, and you'll likely see more top 25 showings as the rest of the rankings are released leading up to the season opener on February 19 against Florida Atlantic.

Seven teams in D1 Baseball's poll were not ranked in last season's final rankings. However, MSU was the only team in the poll that finished last season with a losing record.

Another top recruiting class and an excellent summer league showing by MSU's players are part of the reason the team is receiving so much hype after a down year. That, and an expected breakout year from some of MSU's best pitchers such as Dakota Hudson and Zac Houston.

It seems like MSU baseball receives a fair bit of hype every preseason, regardless of how many players the team lost or the results of the previous year. Maybe this is the season it finally comes together. The 2013 World Series run feels like light years ago.