Ole Miss, MSU, and USM all crack Top 50 in preseason poll

Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Southern Miss each landed in the Collegiate Baseball preseason Fabulous 50 rankings.

Both the Rebels (No. 5) and the Bulldogs (No. 9) cracked the top 10 while the Golden Eagles (No. 29) are the lone Conference USA team to find themselves in the top 50.

Before the 2020 season was suspended due to COVID-19, all three programs were having great seasons.

Ole Miss, who finished the shortened season at 16-1, was one of college baseball’s hottest teams, riding on a 16-game winning streak heading into SEC play.

Mississippi State’s season ended with a 12-4 record, which was good enough to place them at No. 17 in D1Baseball.com’s final rankings.

Southern Miss, on the other hand, was not ranked when the 2020 season abruptly ended, however, it seemed as if the Golden Eagles were heading that way. Sitting at 12-4, the Golden Eagles barely lost to a then No. 13 Rebels squad on February 25 after giving up a late one-run lead.

Roster-wise, Mississippi State and Ole Miss saw a combined five players get drafted, while Southern Miss’ main departure was redshirt senior second baseman Matthew Guidry who has decided against pursuing a career in professional baseball.

While the losses of Anthony Servideo and Tyler Keenan for the Rebels and J.T. Ginn, Justin Foscue, and Jordan Westburg for the Bulldogs will be difficult to overcome, years of consistent recruiting should be enough to keep the two schools among the nation’s best.

Find the full rankings from Collegiate Baseball newspaper, the oldest college baseball poll in the nation, below: