NEW ORLEANS — Following a second-straight season in which it joined the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 as 1-of-5 conferences with four-or-more teams in the NCAA baseball field, the Sun Belt is well-represented in the national preseason polls.
 
Five Sun Belt baseball programs—including each of its four NCAA Baseball Regional representatives from 2023—were noted in at least one of the five major national preseason polls. 
 
Coastal Carolina, which hosted a NCAA Baseball Regional a year ago, was ranked among the Top 25 in every major preseason poll. The Chanticleers were listed as high as No. 18 in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 and the USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll, while also earning nods in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 (No. 19), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason Poll (No. 19) and the Perfect Game Preseason Top 25 (No. 25).
 
Southern Miss, coming off back-to-back NCAA Super Regional appearances—hosting both at Pete Taylor Park, was ranked No. 30 by the NCBWA and No. 33 by Perfect Game, while also receiving votes in the USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll. 
 
Troy received votes in both preseason polls that publish a receiving votes category—NCBWA and USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches—while Louisiana and Texas State earned mention from the NCBWA. 
 
Troy and Louisiana earned NCAA Baseball Regional berths in 2023, while Texas State (2022) is 1-of-4 additional Sun Belt programs that have advanced to the postseason over the past three campaigns alongside Georgia Southern (2022), Old Dominion (2021) and South Alabama (2021). 
 
The Sun Belt boasted the No. 5 conference RPI in the nation in 2023—trailing only the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12. Four Sun Belt programs were listed among the Top 50 in the final RPI in 2023—No. 17 Southern Miss, No. 18 Coastal Carolina, No. 39 Troy and No. 50 Louisiana. 
 
No. 58 Texas State, No. 88 App State, No. 91 Old Dominion, No. 98 James Madison and No. 99 Georgia State gave the Sun Belt nine teams among the Top 100 for the second-straight season. 
 
The Sun Belt has been a multi-bid conference in 28-of-34 seasons since 1989 and has earned 21 NCAA berths over the past 10 campaigns. 
 
NATIONAL PRESEASON POLLS
Perfect Game Preseason Top 25 & 26-40 (Jan. 5 & Jan. 15) 
No. 25 Coastal Carolina
No. 33 Southern Miss
 
D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 (Jan. 16)
No. 18 Coastal Carolina
 
Baseball America Preseason Top 25 (Jan. 29)
No. 19 Coastal Carolina
 
NCBWA Preseason Poll (Feb. 1) 
No. 19 Coastal Carolina
No. 30 Southern Miss
RV Louisiana
RV Texas State
RV Troy
 
USA Today Sports Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll (Feb. 6)
No. 18 Coastal Carolina
RV Southern Miss
RV Troy