The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I preseason poll was released on Monday.
Clemson landed at No. 17 in the NCBWA 2026 preseason ranking.
LSU is the preseason top-ranked team, with UCLA, Texas, Georgia Tech and Arkansas rounding out the top five.
Clemson is one of nine ACC teams ranked in the Top 25, joining No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 10 Louisville, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Florida State, No. 19 NC State, No. 22 Miami, No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Wake Forest.
Clemson finished the 2025 season with a 45-18 overall record under head coach Erik Bakich. The Tigers hosted an NCAA Regional for the third year in a row as well. The 2026 Tigers are led by junior righthander Aidan Knaak, a two-time, first-team All-ACC selection.
Clemson opens the 2026 season at home on Friday with the first game in a three-game series against Army.
As for where Clemson stands in other baseball preseason poll rankings, the Tigers were ranked No. 20 in the Perfect Game preseason ranking, No. 19 in the D1Baseball preseason ranking, No. 20 in the Baseball America preseason ranking and No. 17 in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.
You can see the full NCBWA Division I preseason poll below:
| 2026 NCBWA DIVISION I PRESEASON POLL (FEB. 9) | ||||
| Rk. | School | Conference | Record | Pvs. |
| 1. | LSU | SEC | 53-15 | 1 |
| 2. | UCLA | Big Ten | 48-18 | 6 |
| 3. | Texas | SEC | 44-14 | 17 |
| 4. | Georgia Tech | ACC | 41-19 | RV |
| 5. | Arkansas | SEC | 50-15 | 3 |
| 6. | Mississippi State | SEC | 36-23 | RV |
| 7. | Coastal Carolina | Sun Belt | 56-13 | 2 |
| 8. | Auburn | SEC | 41-20 | 13 |
| 9. | TCU | Big 12 | 39-20 | RV |
| 10. | Louisville | ACC | 42-24 | 5 |
| 11. | Oregon State | Independent | 48-16-1 | 4 |
| 12. | North Carolina | ACC | 46-15 | 11 |
| 13. | Georgia | SEC | 43-17 | 19 |
| 14. | Florida State | ACC | 42-16 | 9 |
| 15. | Tennessee | SEC | 46-19 | 10 |
| 16. | Florida | SEC | 39-22 | 24 |
| 17. | Clemson | ACC | 45-18 | 22 |
| 18. | Vanderbilt | SEC | 43-18 | 18 |
| 19. | NC State | ACC | 35-21 | RV |
| 20. | Southern Miss | Sun Belt | 47-16 | 20 |
| 21. | Kentucky | SEC | 31-26 | RV |
| 22. | Miami (Fla.) | ACC | 35-27 | 15 |
| 23. | Arizona | Big 12 | 44-21 | 7 |
| 24. | Virginia | ACC | 32-18 | RV |
| 25. | Wake Forest | ACC | 39-22 | RV |
| 26. | Texas A&M | SEC | 30-26 | RV |
| 27. | West Virginia | Big 12 | 44-16 | 12 |
| 28. | Ole Miss | SEC | 43-21 | 23 |
| 29. | East Carolina | American | 35-27 | RV |
| 30. | Oregon | Big Ten | 42-16 | 21 |
| Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (41-18), Arizona State (36-24), Austin Peay (45-14), Cal Poly (43-19), Cal State Fullerton (29-27), Cincinnati (33-26), Columbia (30-19), Connecticut (38-21), Creighton (43-16), DBU (41-18), Duke (40-21), East Tennessee State (41-17), Hawai’i (31-21), Jacksonville State (37-25), Kansas (43-17), Kansas State (32-26), Mercer (35-25), Murray State (43-17), Nebraska (32-27), Northeastern (49-11), Oklahoma (38-22), Oklahoma (38-22); Oklahoma State (30-25), San Diego (28-30); Southern Illinois (37-20), Stanford (27-25), Stetson (41-22), Texas Tech (20-33), Troy (39-21), Tulane (33-25), UC Irvine (43-17), UC Santa Barbara (36-18), USC (37-23), USF (31-25), UTRGV (36-18), UTSA (47-15), WKU (46-14); Wright State (40-21), Xavier (32-27). | ||||
| Dropped out:No. 8 Murray State, No. 14 UTSA, No. 16 Duke. No. 25 Northeastern. | ||||
| By conference: SEC 12, ACC 9, Big 12 3, Big Ten 2, Sun Belt 2, Independent 1, American 1. | ||||
| Records are from the 2025 season | ||||