UF Baseball Picked Fifth In SEC Coaches' Poll
Thursday, February 14, 2008 | Baseball
The University of Florida is predicted to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division, as voted by the league's 12 coaches in the 17th annual preseason SEC poll released on Thursday. Vanderbilt, the 2007 SEC regular-season, Tournament and East champion, is projected to duplicate its success of last spring.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators return four position starters and nine pitchers from last season's squad which was third in the East with a 15-15 league mark. UF tied for sixth overall and went 1-2 at the SEC Tournament to finish 29-30 overall.
Since 1996, the SEC has named a regular-season champion as well as a tournament champion. Prior to 1996, the tournament champion was considered the SEC Champion. In the overall SEC Champion vote, Vanderbilt was listed on five of the 12 championship ballots. Ole Miss followed closely behind with four votes, while South Carolina received three.
In addition to picking a preseason SEC champion, the league's head coaches voted a predicted order of finish in the SEC Eastern and Western Divisions. In the Eastern Division, Vanderbilt was the favorite with 62 of a possible 66 points. South Carolina came in second with 58 points and Kentucky third with 42 points. Ole Miss was the clear favorite in the Western Division with a total of 65 points. Mississippi State, last season's SEC representative at the NCAA College World Series, was second with 47, while Arkansas finished third with 39.
Points were compiled on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
A total of seven SEC clubs are ranked in the preseason top 35 poll released by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The Gators will open their season next Friday, Feb. 22, at 6:30 p.m. versus Siena at McKethan Stadium. The conference schedule is set to begin the weekend of March 14-16. The 2008 SEC Tournament will be held from May 21-25 at the newly refurbished Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
The SEC Tournament has drawn over 100,000 fans four of the last six years. Nearly 1.7 million fans attended games in the SEC last season, an all-time NCAA record and the sixth year in a row the SEC has topped the one million mark in attendance, leading the nation once again in that category.
2008 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
SEC Eastern Division
| No. | Team (1st place votes) | Pts. | 2007 SEC Record/Finish |
| 1. | Vanderbilt (7) | 62 | 22-8/1st |
| 2. | South Carolina (3) | 58 | 17-13/2nd |
| 3. | Kentucky (1) | 42 | 13-16-1/5th |
| 4. | Georgia (1) | 38 | 11-19/6th |
| 5. | FLORIDA | 29 | 15-15/3rd |
| 6. | Tennessee | 18 | 13-15/4th |
SEC Western Division
| No. | Team (1st place votes) | Pts. | 2007 SEC Record/Finish |
| 1. | Ole Miss (10) | 65 | 16-14/3rd |
| 2. | Mississippi State | 47 | 15-13/2nd |
| 3. | Arkansas (2) | 39 | 18-12/1st |
| 4. | Auburn | 34 | 10-20/6th |
| 5. | LSU | 33 | 12-17-1/5th |
| 6. | Alabama | 29 | 15-15/4th |
SEC Champion: Vanderbilt (5), Ole Miss (4), South Carolina (3)
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