PEMBROKE, N.C. (NCBWA) – Defending national champion North Greenville will pick up the 2023 season where it left off as the Crusaders picked up 17 out of a possible 19 first-place votes to top the preseason edition of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Top 25 on Wednesday.
The Crusaders are joined in the Top 5 by three other 2023 NCAA Division II Championships participants in No. 2 Southern Arkansas, No. 4 Point Loma and No. 5 Angelo State. Eight-time NCAA Division II national champion Tampa picked up the remaining first-place votes before settling into the No. 3 position in the poll.
Lee (No. 18), Nova Southeastern (22) and Cal State Monterey Bay (25) are back in the NCBWA Top 25 despite appearing in the final poll of the 2022 campaign.
| 2023 NCBWA DIVISION II POLL (PRESEASON) | |||||
| Rk. | School [1st place] | Location | Record | Pts. | Pvs. |
| 1. | North Greenville [17] | Tigerville, S.C. | 54-10 | 468 | 1 |
| 2. | Southern Arkansas | Magnolia, Ark. | 47-13 | 438 | 3 |
| 3. | Tampa [2] | Tampa, Fla. | 44-13 | 424 | 8 |
| 4. | Point Loma | San Diego, Calif. | 51-10 | 418 | 2 |
| 5. | Angelo State | San Angelo, Texas | 51-14 | 399 | 5 |
| 6. | Columbus State | Columbus, Ga. | 46-13 | 336 | 10 |
| 7. | West Chester | West Chester, Pa. | 36-15 | 332 | 6 |
| 8. | Southern New Hampshire | Manchester, N.H. | 46-12 | 330 | 7 |
| 9. | Illinois Springfield | Springfield, Ill. | 48-7 | 324 | 9 |
| 10. | Rollins | Winter Park, Fla. | 43-17 | 313 | 4 |
| 11. | Colorado Mesa | Grand Junction, Colo. | 43-17 | 283 | 11 |
| 12. | Wingate | Wingate, N.C. | 48-10 | 272 | 12 |
| 13. | Central Missouri | Warrensburg. Mo. | 45-9 | 269 | 13 |
| 14. | Azusa Pacific | Azusa, Calif. | 38-19 | 210 | 14 |
| 15. | Augustana | Sioux Falls, S.D. | 47-13 | 179 | 16 |
| 16. | Lenoir-Rhyne | Hickory, N.C. | 46-13 | 154 | 15 |
| 17. | West Texas A&M | Canyon, Texas | 39-19 | 152 | 20 |
| 18. | Lee | Cleveland, Tenn. | 33-24 | 147 | NR |
| 19. | Millersville | Millersville, Pa. | 42-14 | 136 | 23 |
| 20. | Quincy | Quincy, Ill | 37-25 | 127 | 21 |
| 21. | Molloy | Rockville Centre, N.Y. | 40-15 | 104 | 17 |
| 22. | Nova Southeastern | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | 36-17 | 58 | RV |
| t23. | East Stroudsburg | East Stroudsburg, Pa. | 41-20 | 47 | 22 |
| t23. | Minnesota State | Mankato, Minn. | 39-9 | 47 | 25 |
| 25. | Cal State Monterey Bay | Seaside, Calif. | 38-17 | 44 | RV |
| Also receiving votes: MSU Denver (35-22) 42; UNC Pembroke (39-18) 36; Davenport (36-23) 33; Henderson State (40-17) 19; Cal Poly Pomona (35-19) 8; Franklin Pierce (31-17) 6; Saint Leo (36-17) 5; St. Cloud State (37-13) 4; St. Edward's (Texas) (32-25) 4; Seton Hill (33-19-1) 4; Spring Hill (38-15) 1; Northwest Nazarene (31-23) 1; Wayne State (Mich.) (37-19) 1. | |||||
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Dick Howser Trophy, Regional Players of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors Division I Players of the Week, the Stopper of the Year, and publication and writing contests.