BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Cumberlands (Ky.) is the lone team from the Mid-South Conference ranked in the NAIA Baseball Preseason Top-25 Poll, NAIA officials announced on Wednesday.

Cumberland (Tenn.) sits outside the Top 25 but is receiving voting points from the national raters.

Cumberlands opens the season at No. 6 in the poll. The Patriots received 371 voting points from the national raters. Cumberlands finished last season with a 50-12 record en route to reaching the NAIA Baseball World Series.

Cumberland is one of 10 teams outside the poll and still receiving votes. The Phoenix picked up 16 voting points from the raters.

LSU Shreveport is No. 1 with 450 voting points. Georgia Gwinnett is ranked second with 427 voting points and Southeastern is third with 418 points.

The next NAIA Baseball Top-25 Poll is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, 2026.

 

Poll Methodology

• The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
• A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
• The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system: 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
• The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
• Teams receiving only one point are not listed as “receiving votes.”
• For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.