Sept. 21, 2015
Vanderbilt has been named the top college baseball program in the nation by D1Baseball.com.
Under Head Coach Tim Corbin’s leadership over the last 13 seasons, the Commodores have risen to prominence. During the last five years, the Dores have made their way to the College World Series three times and claimed Vanderbilt’s first and only men’s national championship in 2014 before finishing runner-up this past June. No other school in the country can match Vandy’s run of three straight 50-win seasons with the Dores posting four 50-win seasons in the last five while going 245-94 (.723).
The Commodores have also produced elite level talent for professional baseball joining Arizona State this past June as the only two schools in the nation to have multiple players selected first overall in the MLB Draft when Dansby Swanson was selected No. 1 by Arizona in an amazing scene at Illinois after the Commodores punched their ticket to their second straight CWS. David Price’s selection as the No. 1 pick by Tampa Bay in 2007 was the beginning of the Dores’ amazing run as Price helped lead Vanderbilt to the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking in the polls. Vanderbilt has now spent time atop at least one major poll in each of the last three seasons.
This past season saw the program grow even larger with three players being taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. Swanson was joined by Carson Fulmer (No. 8 to Chicago (AL)) and Walker Buehler (No. 24 to Los Angeles (NL)) in the first round as a three of the seven Dores picked. Over the last five years, 36 picks have been spent on Vanderbilt players, including six in the first round and a Southeastern Conference record 12 in 2011.
Recruiting is the life blood of any college program and the Commodores have come up aces in recruiting as well, landing multiple No. 1 recruiting classes to become the only school to land top recruiting classes in the brief history of Baseball America’s poll. Vanderbilt’s current freshman class features 12 high school All-Americans and is expected to be rated very high when the polls are released later this fall.
In Tim Corbin, Travis Jewett and Scott Brown, Vanderbilt has one of the best coaching staffs in America  they work exceptionally hard, they excel at identifying and developing talent, and they have built a truly special family atmosphere that keeps prominent big league alumni close. … The pipeline never runs dry in Nashville. – Aaron Fitt, D1Baseball.com
D1Baseball’s Fitt and Kendall Rogers used the following criteria when assessing programs: “the overall health of the program, based on recent history, coaching staff quality, facilities, scholarship/financial aid situation, conference dynamics, and recruiting and player development proficiency.”
Members of D1Baseball’s website can click here to read the full list and story.
Top SEC Programs on D1Baseball.com’s List
1. Vanderbilt
3. Florida
5. LSU
9. South Carolina
12. Arkansas
14. Texas A&M
18. Ole Miss
21. Mississippi State
28. Alabama
54. Kentucky
62. Auburn
66. Missouri
70. Georgia