FROM PRESS RELEASE
DALLAS – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 11th year with its 2008 preseason predictions and weekly surveys. Weekly polls will continue from Feb. 25 through June 30 following the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The poll voters come from 30 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. After a preseason Top 35 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national Top 30.
Arizona State has received the No. 1 preseason nod for the first time in NCBWA history after coach Pat Murphy’s crew closed 49-15 in 2007. The Sun Devils are the preseason choice to take the Pacific-10 Conference and return one of the top hitting teams in the land along with an experienced pitching staff. Previous NCBWA preseason No. 1 choices have been LSU (1998, 2001), Southern California (1999), Miami (Fla.) (2000), Stanford (2002), Texas (2003, 06), Cal State Fullerton (2005), and Rice (2004, 07). Oregon State is the two-time defending NCAA Division I champ and is No. 11 in the pre-2008 NCBWA survey.
This week’s poll has representation by 13 different conferences among the 293 baseball-playing schools in the 2008 NCAA Division I ranks. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com.
2008 PRESEASON NCBWA TOP 35 POLL (JAN. 17)
Rk. School Conference Record Pvs.
1. Arizona State Pacific-10 49-15 4
2. North Carolina Atlantic Coast 57-16 2
3. Rice Conference USA 56-14 3
4. South Carolina Southeastern 46-20 8
5. Arizona Pacific-10 42-17 21
6. Texas Big 12 46-17 12
7. Mississippi Southeastern 40-25 17
8. Vanderbilt Southeastern 54-13 6
9. San Diego West Coast 43-18 23
10. Wichita State Missouri Valley 53-22 16
11. Oregon State Pacific-10 49-18 1
12. Miami Atlantic Coast 37-24 –
13. Florida State Atlantic Coast 49-13 14
14. Cal State Fullerton Big West 38-25 10
15. Michigan Big Ten 42-19 20
16. Clemson Atlantic Coast 41-23 15
17. Missouri Big 12 42-18 25
18. Long Beach State Big West 39-20 27
19. UCLA Pacific-10 33-28 26
20. Texas A&M Big 12 48-19 11
21. Virginia Atlantic Coast 45-16 13
22. UC Irvine Big West 47-17 5
23. Louisville Big East 47-24 8
24. Mississippi State Southeastern 38-22 9
25. Kentucky Southeastern 34-19 –
26. Baylor Big 12 35-27 –
27. Oklahoma State Big 12 42-21 18
28. Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 45-17 29
29. Fresno State Western Athletic 38-29 –
30. Coastal Carolina Big South 50-13 19
31. Georgia Tech Atlantic Coast 32-25 –
32. Pepperdine West Coast 35-22 –
33. Southern Miss Conference USA 39-23 –
34. LSU Southeastern 29-26 –
35. Arkansas Southeastern 43-21 22
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (31-26), Austin Peay State (40-22), Bethune-Cookman (33-27), California (29-26), Charlotte (49-12), College of Charleston (39-19), Creighton (45-16), East Carolina (40-23), Georgia (23-33), Kent State (33-26), Louisiana Tech (35-24), Memphis (36-27), Minnesota (41-18), Nebraska (32-27), New Orleans (38-26), North Carolina State (38-23), Old Dominion (35-24), Oral Roberts (40-17), Penn State (31-26), Sam Houston State (40-24), South Florida (34-26), Southern California (27-29), Southern Illinois (34-22), St. John’s (41-19), Stetson (42-21), Texas Christian (48-14), Texas-San Antonio (36-22), Tulane (34-26), UC Riverside (38-21), UCF (27-32), VMI (34-21), Wake Forest (34-29), Western Carolina (42-20).
By conference: Southeastern 7, Atlantic Coast 6, Big 12 5, Pacific-10 4, Big West 3, Conference USA 2, West Coast 2, Big East 1, Big South 1, Big Ten 1, Missouri Valley 1, Sun Belt 1, Western Athletic 1.
