Coaches pick Florida second in the SEC East

The SEC coaches’ preseason baseball polls are out and the Florida Gators are picked to finished second in the Eastern Division.

The Gators received 67 points and no first-place votes by the league’s coaches. Vanderbilt received 89 points while 12 of the 14 coaches picked the Commodores to finish first in the East.

Kentucky and South Carolina, which are tied for third with 59 votes apiece, each received one of the other two first-place votes.

As far as predictions for the rest of the East, Georgia is fifth, Tennessee is sixth and Missouri is seventh.

In the West, Arkansas leads the way with 90 points and 12 first-place votes followed by LSU with 75 points and Mississippi State with 59 points. LSU and MSU each received a first-place vote.

Ole Miss (54), Texas A&M (51), Alabama (26) and Auburn (24) round out the West voting.

The 2013 season kicks off Friday with Florida hosting Duke for a three-game series. Jonothan Crawford is scheduled to throw the first pitch at around 7 p.m. at McKethan Stadium.

Arkansas was tabbed to win the SEC overall title, receiving nine votes. Vanderbilt received three votes while Kentucky and LSU each received one.

Eastern Division
Team Pts.  

1) Vanderbilt 89 (12)
2) Florida 67
3) Kentucky 59 (1)
South Carolina 59 (1)
5) Georgia 41
6) Tennessee 29
7) Missouri 23

Western Division
Team Pts.  

1) Arkansas 90 (12)
2) LSU 75 (1)
3) Mississippi State 59 (1)
4) Ole Miss 54
5) Texas A&M 51
6) Alabama 26
7) Auburn 24

SEC Champion: Arkansas (9), Vanderbilt (3), Kentucky (1), LSU (1)

mikecapshaw
Mike Capshaw brings a wealth of experience to the Gator Country team. He’s been overseeing all editorial aspects of GatorCountry.com and Gator Country magazine by managing our team of staffers, interns and freelancers. He is now moving into a bigger role as a reporter by covering the football and basketball beats as well as providing coverage of all sports on campus. Mike’s 15 years in the business has included more than six years of covering SEC sports and recruiting at a daily newspaper in Arkansas. He has also helped launch a newspaper, magazines, websites and even a sports talk radio show. Because Mike puts family ahead of his career, he left the place where he was established when his wife received an opportunity to further her career at UF. He took a leap of faith that he could find a job in the Gainesville area and worked for a year at a newspaper group before joining the Gator Country family in November, 2011. Mike has won Florida Press Association awards for Best Sports Game Story and Best Sports Feature Story in the past two years as well as a company-wide award at his former newspaper group that includes some 60 publications, for Excellence in Sports Reporting. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeCapshawGC.