Collegiate Baseball releases 2018 Preseason Top 40 Poll

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FROM COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESS RELEASE
TUCSON, Ariz. — Florida is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The defending national champions feature five Collegiate Baseball pre-season All-Americans as they return five position player starters and a number of superb pitchers from a ball club that rolled to a 52-19 record last season.

Factor in the second best recruiting class in the USA last fall as determined by Collegiate Baseball which includes six drafted players among a 16-man class, and the Gators are the favorite to win it all in 2018.

Florida leads all NCAA Div. I programs with six appearances at the College World Series over the past eight seasons, including the last three.

The Gators feature three Collegiate Baseball pre-season All-American pitchers, including potential first round draft picks next June in RHP Brady Singer (9-5, 3.21 ERA, 129 K, 32 BB) and RHP Jackson Kowar (12-1, 4.08 ERA, 84 K, 44 BB).

Another All-American is RHP closer Michael Byrne (19 SV, 1.67 ERA, 38 AP, 15 BB). Last season, Byrne set a new school record with 19 saves.

Florida is expected to have another superb defense. The Gators didn’t commit an error in its last five games of the 2017 College World Series in the most pressure-packed games of the season, an all-time CWS record. As a team, the Gators only allowed 28 stolen bases in 50 attempts over 71 games.

Offensively, Florida should be much stronger than one season ago as numerous injuries impacted the production. Key starters return healthy along with impressive newcomers who will add power and speed to the lineup.

Poll Notes: Five teams from the Southeastern Conference are ranked in the top 10 including (1) Florida, (3) Arkansas, (6) Vanderbilt, (8) Kentucky and (10) Louisiana St. Overall in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40, 10 SEC teams are ranked, the most by any conference in the USA. The Atlantic Coast Conference is second with eight teams.

Rank Team (2017 Final Record) Points
1. Florida (52-19) 497
2. Oregon St. (56-6) 494
3. Arkansas (45-19) 493
4. Florida St. (46-23) 489
5. Texas Tech. (45-17) 484
6. Vanderbilt (36-25-1) 482
7. North Carolina (49-14) 479
8. Kentucky (43-23) 477
9. Texas Christian (50-18) 475
10. Louisiana St. (52-20) 471
11. Dallas Baptist (42-21) 470
12. Cal. St. Fullerton (39-24) 469
13. Mississippi St. (40-27) 465
14. UCLA (30-27) 463
15. Clemson (42-21) 460
16. Virginia (43-16) 459
17. South Alabama (40-21) 456
18. Louisiana (35-21-1) 454
19. South Carolina (35-25) 450
20. Miami, Fla. (32-27) 448
21. Louisville (53-12) 446
22. Missouri St. (43-20) 443
23. N.C. State (36-25) 440
24. Stanford (42-16) 437
25. Southern Mississippi (50-16) 435
26. Texas (39-24) 432
27. Oklahoma St. (30-27) 429
28. Winthrop (34-24) 426
29. Georgia Tech. (27-28) 423
30. Houston (42-21) 420
31. San Diego (35-18-1) 417
32. Sam Houston St. (44-23) 414
33. Texas A&M (41-23) 412
34. Kent St. (37-18) 410
35. Auburn (37-26) 407
36. Arizona (38-21) 403
37. Stetson (27-29) 401
38. Mississippi (32-25) 398
39. Nebraska (35-22-1) 394
40. Michigan (42-17) 391

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Coastal Carolina (37-19-1), Long Beach St. (42-20-1), U.C. Santa Barbara (24-32), Oklahoma (35-24), Minnesota (36-21), St. John’s (42-13), California (25-29), Arizona St. (23-29), Southern California (21-34), Tennessee Tech. (41-21), Rice (33-31), Cal. Poly (28-28), Central Florida (40-22), South Florida (42-19), Connecticut (33-25), U.C. Irvine (23-33), Tulane (27-31), East Carolina (32-28), Wichita St. (28-30), Wake Forest (43-20), Duke (30-28), Tennessee (27-25), Alabama (19-34-1), Missouri (36-23), Georgia (25-32), Florida Gulf Coast (43-20), Oregon (30-25), Washington (28-26), Utah (27-24), Washington St. (24-29), Oral Roberts (43-16), San Diego St. (42-21), New Mexico (30-27-1), Fresno St. (35-25), Nevada (19-36), Liberty (32-23), St. Louis (35-22), Morehead St. (36-23), Rhode Island (35-22), Virginia Commonwealth (35-22), Davidson (35-26), Creighton (24-25), Xavier (34-27), Seton Hall (29-24), Butler (31-20), Presbyterian (32-29), High Point (30-23), Iowa (39-22), Maryland (38-23), Indiana (34-34-2), Purdue (29-27), Michigan St. (29-23), West Virginia (36-26), Baylor (34-23), Mercer (39-17), N.C. Greensboro (36-24), Western Carolina (28-28), Southeastern Louisiana (37-22), McNeese St. (37-20), Texas-Arlington (30-25), Brigham Young (38-21), Loyola Marymount (38-18), Gonzaga (33-20), Grand Canyon (29-25), New Mexico St. (35-22), Central Michigan (31-28), Ball St. (30-28), Ohio (31-28), Northeastern (29-25), College of Charleston (28-31), Florida Atlantic (35-21-1), Navy (37-17), Old Dominion (37-21), N.C. Charlotte (34-24), Wright St. (38-21), Yale (34-18), Canisius (35-22), Marist (32-23), Bethune-Cookman (36-25), Florida A&M (27-26), Indiana St. (29-26), Bradley (20-31), Bryant (29-26), Central Connecticut St. (36-22), Jacksonville St. (30-26), Belmont (32-29).