FROM COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER
TUCSON, Ariz. — Armed with one of the top pitching staffs in the USA, six returning position player starters and the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, Florida is ranked No.1 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.
The Gators tied for third at the 2015 College World Series and feature four players who are potential first round draft picks in next June’s Major League Baseball Draft, including:
• 6-foot-7, 230-pound LHP A.J. Puk who touches 99 mph with his fastball. Last season he was 9-4 with a 3.81 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 35 walks.
• RHP Logan Shore who throws a mid-90s fastball and last season was the ace of the staff with an 11-6 record, 2.72 ERA, 84 strikeouts and 24 walks.
• CF Buddy Reed, an outstanding outfielder, who hit .305 with 14 doubles, 47 RBI and swiped 18 bases.
• RHP Dane Dunning who has a mid-90s fastball and posted a 5-2 record, 4.03 ERA and struck out 55 batters with 23 walks over 60 1/3 innings last season.
Plus, Florida returns Louisville Slugger Co-Freshman of The Year C/DH J.J. Schwarz who hit .332 with 18 homers, 16 doubles 73 RBI.
The pre-season poll factors in voting by NCAA Division I coaches across the nation, how a team finished last season, returning position player starters and pitchers, potential draft picks along with the quality of its recruiting class that came to school last fall.
Over the last three years, Florida has landed the most impressive recruiting classes of any program in the nation as the Gators ranked No. 1 in 2013, No. 3 in 2014 and No. 1 in 2015, according to Collegiate Baseball’s annual analysis. Those three classes have included a combined 21 drafted players and a number of All-Americans.
O’Sullivan has led the Gators to the College World Series four times in the past six years highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2011 and third place in 2015, three Southeastern Conference titles in the past six years (2010-11-14), as well as eight NCAA Tournaments in a row.
Winning a national championship is something the Gators have never done in baseball, and the 2016 Florida ball club is equipped to win it all.
To read the in-depth story about why Florida is ranked No. 1 in the Fabulous 40 Pre-Season Poll, purchase the Jan. 1, 2016 edition of by CLICKING HERE. This 2016 College Pre-Season Edition also includes the Louisville Slugger Pre-Season All-Americans, the top 81 college players in the nation who have a chance of being drafted in the first two rounds of next June’s MLB Draft and a rundown on the top teams and players on every level of college baseball with in-depth rundowns on the top teams in each division.
The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.
Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Division I
Fabulous 40 Pre-Season Poll
(As of Dec. 21, 2015)
Rank Team (2015 Final Record) Points
1. Florida (52-18) 495
2. Louisville (47-18) 492
3. Vanderbilt (51-21) 489
4. Miami, Fla. (50-17) 487
5. Texas A&M (50-14) 484
6. Louisiana-Lafayette (42-23) 483
7. Louisiana St. (54-12) 481
8. Oregon St. (39-18-1) 480
9. Virginia (44-24) 475
10. UCLA (45-16) 473
11. Mississippi St. (24-30) 469
12. Cal. St. Fullerton (39-25) 467
13. California (36-21) 466
14. Oregon (38-25) 463
15. Texas Christian (51-15) 461
16. Florida St. (44-21) 460
17. Missouri St. (49-12) 457
18. Houston (43-20) 455
19. Tulane (35-25) 453
20. Rice (37-22) 451
21. Georgia Tech. (32-23) 449
22. North Carolina (34-24) 446
23. Michigan (39-25) 444
24. Arkansas (40-25) 443
25. Oklahoma St. (38-20) 438
26. Stony Brook (35-16-1) 436
27. Notre Dame (37-23) 434
28. Maryland (42-24) 432
29. Kentucky (30-25) 430
30. Pepperdine (32-29) 427
31. Dallas Baptist (46-15) 425
32. College of Charleston (45-15) 423
33. Coastal Carolina (39-21) 421
34. Missouri (30-28) 419
35. South Carolina (32-25) 417
36. San Diego St. (41-23) 414
37. South Alabama (37-20) 411
38. Winthrop (40-19) 409
39. Texas Tech. (31-24) 407
40. Texas (30-27) 405
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Southern California (39-21), Southeastern Louisiana (42-17), Arizona St. (35-23), Florida Atlantic (42-19), Arizona (31-24), Oklahoma (34-27), Stanford (24-32), Auburn (36-26), Mississippi (30-28), Tennessee (24-26), Alabama (32-28), Georgia (26-28), San Diego (33-22), Iowa (41-18), Clemson (32-29), U.C. Irvine (33-23), Long Beach St. (28-26), U.C. Santa Barbara (40-17-1), Kent St. (31-22), Creighton (32-19), North Florida (45-16), Southern Mississippi (36-18-1), Nevada (41-15), Illinois (50-10-1), East Carolina (40-22), Wichita St. (26-33), New Mexico (32-27), Grand Canyon (32-22), Gonzaga (24-28), Loyola Marymount (33-21-1), Troy (30-25), Texas St. (24-32-1), Oral Roberts (41-16), Sam Houston St. (31-28), Wofford (39-22), Mercer (35-22), Samford (32-26), Central Florida (31-27), South Florida (34-26-1), Southeast Missouri (36-23), Bryant (29-25), Fresno St. (31-28), Central Michigan (35-22), Ball St. (33-25), Wright St. (43-17), N.C. Wilmington (41-18), Indiana (35-24), Radford (45-16), Liberty (33-23), St. John’s (41-16), Seton Hall (25-25), St. Louis (35-21), Stetson (29-30), Florida Gulf Coast (30-26-1), Lipscomb (39-20), Wake Forest (27-26), N.C. State (36-23), Connecticut (35-25).
7 comments
3 top 20 teams from Louisiana. Both major universities ranked and Lafayette, as always, is also expected to have a strong baseball team. Can’t wait for the season to start.
That is the University of Louisiana to you! 😉
Brian- You are correct- it the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and not simply Lafayette. I know the Cajun fans get a bit testy when they are referred to as Lafayette and I apologize. I look forward to visiting ULL in April for the Tulane game and can testify that the Cajun fans are some of the best and most welcoming in college baseball.
Yea I been over this with the Lafayette fans! Lol
Brian Foley
Sent from my iPad
I agree with the rankings for most part. Weird though how few west coast teams are on here.
Tulane is stacked I’ve seen them this fall, wouldn’t surprise me if they finish top 10. Lsu is in rebuilding year but they will still be good as always, I’ve seen them this fall…great great pitching, excellent recruiting etc. UH is going to be really really strong too.
Really surprised at ULL being 6 though. They should probably be 25 or so, my problem with them is they have the worst schedule in the country every year. If they are starting at 6, then they will probably finish #1 because of there schedule….. If they don’t win 50+ games next year in regular season than they should be out of the top 25. I have seen them this fall too, and really like the new freshman pitchers. Position players need some work, but pitching is definitely there for them to have great year, just wish they would schedule somebody ranked higher than 200 in non conference.
Lafayette does have a decent non-conference schedule. They play LSU, Tulane, Houston, SHSU etc. The SunBelt is definitely a bottom level conference generally but their baseball is pretty decent- UL-Lafayette, USA, Troy, etc. I know more about Tulane and LSU but I do follow Lafayette and at this point I suspect that between not wanting to lose to a really good Cajun team and the fact that they are in Lafayette means that they seem to have some difficulties getting big name teams to come play them (although Alabama visited them last year).
Brian, do you have a list of D1’s coming to LakePoint in Emerson, GA this year?
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