Gators Ranked No. 2 in Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll
Monday, December 20, 2010 | Baseball
On the heels of capturing its first Southeastern Conference title since 2005 and advancing to the 2010 NCAA College World Series, the University of Florida was ranked second in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll released on Monday. It matches the team's highest preseason showing in school history of second in 2006.
TCU headlines the publication's top five, followed by the Gators, UCLA, Clemson and Vanderbilt. Fourth-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's club will begin the 2011 campaign on Feb. 18 at McKethan Stadium, when USF visits for the opener of a three-game series.
Florida was 47-17 overall last season and claimed its 11th SEC title and 20th Eastern Division crown with a school-record 22-8 league mark that featured a 9-1 series performance. UF reached the 40-win plateau for the 19th time in school history and swept through the Gainesville Regional and Super Regional rounds to punch its ticket to Omaha. It was the lone school nationally last year to play in a BCS bowl game in football, make it to the NCAA Tournament in men's basketball and advance to the final College World Series held at Rosenblatt Stadium.
The Gators welcome back 22 letterwinners, including eight position starters and 11 pitchers, and boasts its third-straight top-six incoming class. Florida returns a solid nucleus that includes two-time, first-team All-SEC senior second baseman Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.), 2010 second-team All-SEC first baseman Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) and five sophomores who were Freshman All-Americans last season: shortstop Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.), left-hander/designated hitter Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), infielder Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.), right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) and catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.). Maddox, junior left-hander Alex Panteliodis (Tampa, Fla.) and Tucker have been named to preseason All-America teams released by Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
The Gators join the rest of the SEC in the poll, as all 12 teams are either ranked (Vanderbilt, 5th; defending national champion South Carolina, 14th; LSU, 15th; Auburn, 25th; Arkansas, 32nd) or received votes (Ole Miss, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State).
The contest with the Bulls begins the 35-game home schedule at McKethan Stadium, where the Gators were a program-best 33-3 (.917) last year and boast a 90-19 (.826) mark in O'Sullivan's tenure. Twenty of UF's 56 games during the regular season will be against squads listed in the Collegiate Baseball poll, which began during the 1958 season.
2011 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Division I Preseason Poll
| Rank | School ('10 Final Record) | Points |
| 1. | TCU (54-14) | 495 |
| 2. | FLORIDA (47-17) | 494 |
| 3. | UCLA (51-17) | 493 |
| 4. | Clemson (45-25) | 489 |
| 5. | Vanderbilt (46-20) | 486 |
| 6. | Oklahoma (50-18) | 483 |
| 7. | Texas (50-13) | 481 |
| 8. | Texas A&M (43-21-1) | 480 |
| 9. | Oregon (40-24) | 479 |
| 10. | Stanford (31-25) | 474 |
| 11. | Arizona State (52-10) | 473 |
| 12. | Cal State Fullerton (46-18) | 470 |
| 13. | Florida State (48-20) | 469 |
| 14. | South Carolina (54-16) | 467 |
| 15. | LSU (41-22) | 465 |
| 16. | Connecticut (48-16) | 462 |
| 17. | Virginia (51-14) | 457 |
| 18. | Miami (Fla.) (43-20) | 455 |
| 19. | Georgia Tech (47-15) | 454 |
| 20. | Louisville (50-14) | 451 |
| 21. | Rice (40-23) | 450 |
| 22. | Arizona (34-24) | 445 |
| 23. | Wichita State (41-19) | 445 |
| 24. | Coastal Carolina (55-10) | 440 |
| 25. | Auburn (43-21) | 437 |
| 26. | St. John's (43-20) | 435 |
| 27. | North Carolina (38-32) | 434 |
| 28. | San Diego (37-22) | 427 |
| 29. | Fresno State (38-25) | 426 |
| 30. | Pittsburgh (38-18) | 425 |
| 31. | Washington State (37-22) | 422 |
| 32. | Arkansas (43-21) | 418 |
| 33. | California (29-25) | 417 |
| 34. | UC Irvine (39-21) | 414 |
| 35. | College of Charleston (44-19) | 412 |
| 36. | Florida Atlantic (37-24) | 409 |
| 37. | Kansas State (37-22) | 407 |
| 38. | Hawaii (35-28) | 402 |
| 39. | Baylor (36-24) | 401 |
| 40. | Kent State (39-25) | 398 |
Other Teams Receiving Votes: FIU, U.C. Riverside, N.C. State, Oregon State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Southern California, Washington, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, USF, Nebraska, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, U.C. Santa Barbara, Florida Gulf Coast, Liberty, Minnesota, Michigan, James Madison, Southern Miss, East Carolina, UCF, Central Michigan, Bethune-Cookman, Illinois State, San Diego State, Tennessee Tech., The Citadel, Texas State., Northwestern State, Oral Roberts, Louisiana Lafayette, Western Kentucky, Lamar, Portland, Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Charlotte, Mercer, East Tennessee State, Jacksonville, Georgia State, Tulane, Utah Valley State, New Mexico, Stony Brook, Iowa, UW.-Milwaukee, Canisius, Bryant, Jacksonville State, Dallas Baptist, Le Moyne.
