USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Preseason Poll Ranks UM Baseball No. 14
Jan. 25, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – –
With practice set to start next Friday, the University of Miami Baseball team earned its fourth top 15 preseason ranking when the Hurricanes were selected preseason No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll Friday. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Miami is one of five Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked in the poll. No. 2 North Carolina leads all ACC teams followed by No. 12 Florida State, No. 14 Miami, No. 16 Clemson and No. 20 Virginia. ArizonaState was awarded the top spot by the coaches.
Earlier this week, Miami earned a No. 10 preseason ranking by Baseball America. The Hurricanes have already garnered a No. 12 preseason ranking from the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) preseason poll and No. 14 preseason ranking in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s 2008 Fabulous 40 Preseason NCAA Division I Poll. Miami’s highest ranking thus far this preseason came in Perfect Game Crosschecker’s preseason ranking of the nation’s Top 100 college teams. Perfect Game ranked the Hurricanes No. 4 in its poll.
Miami is coming off a 37-24 season (17-13 Atlantic Coast Conference) in 2007 that ended with a NCAA-record 35th-straight postseason appearance at the NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional. UM welcomes back seven position starters and two of its weekend starting pitchers led by preseason All-Americans first baseman Yonder Alonso and sophomore left-handed pitcher Eric Erickson.
Miami opens its 2008 regular season Feb. 22-24 when the Hurricanes host Cincinnati for a three-game series at Mark Light Field. Miami’s first practice is Feb. 1 and is open to the public.
For season ticket information, call 1-800-GO CANES.
USA TODAY/ESPN TOP 25 COACHES’ POLL — Jan. 25, 2008
The preseason USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 baseball coaches’ poll, with 2007 RECORDS, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in final 2007 poll and first-place votes received:
Final 2007 First-place
Rank School (record) Points rank votes
1. Arizona State (49-15) 712 5 12
2. North Carolina (57-16) 674 2 2
3. South Carolina (46-20) 650 10 0
4. Rice (56-14) 628 3 1
5. Arizona (42-17) 614 25 10
6. Vanderbilt (54-13) 549 9 0
7. Texas (46-17) 537 14 0
8. Mississippi (40-25) 531 16 1
9. San Diego (43-18) 460 20 1
10. Wichita State (53-22) 441 11 0
11. Oregon State (49-18) 435 1 4
12. Florida State (49-13) 398 15 0
13. Missouri (42-18) 342 24 0
14. Miami (Fla.) (37-24) 335 not ranked 0
15. Cal StateFullerton (38-25) 314 7 0
16. Clemson (41-23) 311 13 0
17. UCLA (33-28) 279 22 0
18. Michigan (42-19) 274 18 0
19. Long Beach State (39-20) 241 not ranked 0
20. Virginia (45-16) 229 17 0
21. Texas A&M (48-19) 172 12 0
22. UC-Irvine (47-17-1) 141 4 0
23. Mississippi State (38-22) 135 8 0
24. Baylor (35-27) 97 not ranked 0
25. Louisville (47-24) 85 6 0
Others receiving votes (with 2007 record): Kentucky (34-19-1) 74; Arkansas (43-21) 61; Oklahoma State (42-21) 53; Pepperdine (35-22) 41; Coastal Carolina (50-13) 39; LSU (29-26) 37; Fresno State (38-29) 31; Louisiana-Lafayette (45-17) 31; Georgia Tech (32-25) 21; Nebraska (32-27) 19; Oral Roberts (40-17) 16; North Carolina State (38-23) 12; Georgia (23-33) 9; Oklahoma (34-24) 6; St. John’s (41-19) 6; Southern Mississippi (39-23) 5; Auburn (31-25) 4; Florida (29-30) 4; Old Dominion (35-24) 4; College of Charleston (39-19) 3; North Carolina-Wilmington (29-27) 3; Charlotte (49-12) 2; Stetson (42-21) 2; TCU (48-14) 2; Alabama (31-26) 1; Creighton (45-16) 1; East Carolina (40-23) 1; Florida Atlantic (36-22) 1; Tulane (34-26) 1; Wake Forest (34-29) 1.
