KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its preseason rankings for the 2026 baseball season. MIAA head coaches selected Central Missouri, the six-time defending MIAA champion, to claim the league’s regular season crown once again.
 
Central Missouri totaled 144 points and received 12 first-place votes to top the 2026 MIAA Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. The Mules won the league’s 2025 regular season title with an MIAA record of 29-7. It was the Mules’ sixth consecutive MIAA title and 31st overall. Eleven-year Head Coach Kyle Crookes led Central Missouri back to the NCAA Division II College Baseball Championship Series last season where the Mules finished as the 2025 national runners-up after falling to the University of Tampa 2-1 in the championship series.
 
Pittsburg State was picked second in the coaches poll with 125 points, while Central Oklahoma finished third with 115 points. Both the Gorillas and the Bronchos advanced to the 2025 NCAA postseason. After Central Oklahoma captured its first MIAA tournament title, the Bronchos suffered back-to-back losses in the NCAA Central Region Championship Tournament. Pittsburg State carried its season as far as the Central Region Championship series where the Gorillas lost back-to-back games to the Mules.
 
Missouri Southern finished fourth in the preseason poll with 97 points and the remaining first-place selection. Washburn concluded the coaches’ top five teams with 93 points, and Fort Hays State was close behind in sixth with 92 points. Rogers State was picked seventh, followed by Emporia State, Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western, Northeastern State, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Newman.
 
The 2025 NCAA Division II baseball season officially begins a week from today on Friday, January 30, with MIAA series beginning February 20. The 2026 MIAA Baseball Championship is scheduled for May 6-10 at Central Oklahoma’s Wendell Simmons Field in Edmond, Okla.
 
To view the 2026 schedules for all 13 MIAA baseball programs, visit theMIAA.com/baseball.
 
2026 MIAA BASEBALL PRESEASON RANKINGS
1. Central Missouri [12] – 144 points
2. Pittsburg State – 125 points
3. Central Oklahoma – 115 points
4. Missouri Southern [1] – 97 points 
5. Washburn – 93 points
6. Fort Hays State – 92 points
7. Rogers State – 82 points
8. Emporia State – 72 points
9. Northwest Missouri – 67 points
10. Missouri Western – 50 points
11. Northeastern State – 32 points
12. Arkansas-Fort Smith – 25 points
13. Newman – 20 points 
[#] - First Place Votes