ACC Baseball Preseason Rankings

Feb 6, 2011
Joe Martin

Preseason Rankings Are Out for ACC Baseball - By Tage Olsin (Own work (Photo taken by me)) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Previewing the ACC Baseball season and preseason rankings.

The preseason rankings for college baseball are out and it looks good for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Several schools have placed teams in the Top 25 and should be a factor in the College World Series. Clemson and Florida State both rank highly after going to the CWS last year. Action starts with Virginia Tech playing Friday February 18th in Conway South Carolina for the Caravelle Resorts Tournament at Coastal Carolina University.

Last Season’s Finish for ACC Baseball

Both Clemson (45-25, 18-12) and Florida State (48-20, 18-12) advanced to the CWS last year after finishing first and second in the regular season in the Atlantic Division. In the Coastal Division Virginia (51-14, 23-7) led the Conference in overall and conference wins but failed to advance to the CWS. Georgia Tech (47-15, 21-9) and Miami (43-20, 20-10) both posted better records than the Atlantic Division counterparts but also failed to reach the CWS.

ACC Baseball Ranks in the Polls

The preseason rankings are out from Baseball America and the Clemson Tigers lead the ACC at number ten. The Florida State Seminoles are close behind at twelve with Cavaliers of UVA fifteenth and the Miami Hurricanes at twenty four. The USA Today/ESPN Top 25 also has the Tigers leading the AC at number five, FSU eleventh, UVA fourteenth, Miami at eighteen, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets make an appearance at nineteen. According to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) six ACC teams rank in the top 29. Clemson again leads their list at seven with FSU and UVA right behind at ten and thirteen. The Hurricanes come in at twenty just ahead of GT at twenty one and The North Carolina Tar Heels get recognized at 29.

Coaches Poll for the Conference

The Atlantic Division stands to be tough again with both Clemson (8) and Florida State (4) receiving first place votes in the ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll. Virginia (9) has a little better lead in the Coastal Division although Miami (2) and Georgia Tech (1) also gathered first place votes. North Carolina in the Coastal and North Carolina State in the Atlantic also place well.

Last year saw eight ACC teams play in the Regionals (FSU, UM, NC St, VT, NC, UVA, GT, CU) and four advanced to the Super Regionals (FSU, UM, UVA, CU). With as many as six schools being represented in the preseason polls the ACC should be positioned well for making a run at the College World Series.

References:

ACC Baseball

NCAA Baseball