Mississippi State, with a new head coach in Brian O’Connor and a transfer portal class full of high-caliber players, is picking up a lot of steam in the media with just over a month until the first pitch of the college baseball season. The latest example of that came Monday morning when D1Baseball dropped its preseason rankings, placing the Bulldogs at No. 4 in the country.
The Bulldogs rank only behind UCLA, LSU, and Texas, respectively. Ole Miss didn’t make the cut, while Southern Miss came in at No. 20.
Mississippi State had a seemingly disaster season turn around after firing head coach Chris Lemonis, who won a College World Series with the team in 2021. A 9-1 record after the coaching change helped the team earn an NCAA Tournament berth, falling to Florida State in the regional round on June 1.
The offseason in Starkville started immediately as Mississippi State announced O’Connor as its new coach the evening of the team’s regional loss. O’Connor had chosen to leave for Starkville from Virginia, where he was the skipper for 22 seasons and led the Cavaliers to 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and winning it all in 2015. At the time, D1Baseball co-owner Kendall Rogers commended Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon for the hire that’s widely considered the best by any team this offseason.
O’Connor hit the ground running by getting guys to stick around like All-SEC third baseman Ace Reese, outfielder Bryce Chance, and pitcher Noah Sullivan. He also secured a plethora of transfer commits like pitcher Tomas Valincius (Virginia), outfielder James Nunnallee (Virginia), infielder Chone James (Virginia), infielder Vytas Valincius (Illinois), outfielder Aidan Teel (Virginia), pitcher Maddox Webb (Citadel), pitcher Jackson Logar (James Madison), utility Blake Bevis (Ball State), pitcher Tyler Pitzer (South Carolina), and catcher Kevin Milewski (Seton Hall).
“First and foremost, [the priority] is putting the best team on the field next year for Mississippi State, then it’s building the future,” O’Connor explained in June as to how he’s approaching the program’s soft rebuild. Mississippi State, a historic program with 41 NCAA Tournament appearances missed the postseason in 2022 and 2023 – the first time since the early 1990s the team had two years without summer ball – before squeaking into the field in 2024 and 2025.
In Hattiesburg, D1Baseball’s No. 20 ranking for Southern Miss shows the publication’s belief that the Golden Eagles have what it takes to again be a national contender. Led by third-year head coach Christian Ostrander, Southern Miss will look to extend its Division I-leading streak of 40-plus wins to a 10th season and get back to Omaha for the first time since 2009.
Southern Miss retained big-hitter Matthew Russo, who had 19 home runs in 2025, along with utility Drey Barrett, outfielder Ben Higdon, and catcher Tucker Stockman on offense. Pitching returners include Grayden Harris, Colby Allen, Kros Sivley, Josh Och, and Cole Richardson. Ostrander and company also utilized the portal to get pitcher Thomas Crabtree from Tennessee and outfielder Caleb Stelly (Louisiana), infielder Kyle Morrison (South Alabama), and pitcher Jake Neely (Arizona State).
Mississippi State begins the 2026 season with a Feb. 13-15 weekend series at home against Hofstra. Southern Miss will start that same weekend in Hattiesburg against UC Santa Barbara.
The full D1Baseball preseason rankings are as follows:
- UCLA
- LSU
- Texas
- Mississippi State
- Georgia Tech
- Coastal Carolina
- Arkansas
- Louisville
- Auburn
- TCU
- North Carolina
- Oregon State
- Florida
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Florida State
- NC State
- Kentucky
- Clemson
- Southern Miss
- Wake Forest
- Miami
- Vanderbilt
- Arizona
- Texas A&M