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, 2010 second-team All-SEC first baseman Preston Tucker and five sophomores who were Freshman All-Americans last season: shortstop Nolan Fontana, left-hander/designated hitter Brian Johnson, infielder Austin Maddox, right-hander Hudson Randall and catcher Mike Zunino. Maddox, junior left-hander Alex Panteliodis 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.