The Florida Gators’ baseball team lost so much talent off of last season’s squad that few believe the team has a serious shot at a fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series.
Don’t count PerfectGame.org as being among the naysayers.
The site released its Preseason College Baseball Top 25 on Tuesday and have the Gators at No. 7, which is much higher than most expected.
Collegiate Baseball released its preseason rankings last month withFlorida at No. 24. Another college baseball source, Baseball America, is expected to announced its preseason rankings within the next week.
Florida played one of the most difficult schedules in the country last season and finished 47-20. The Gators beat North Carolina State in the Gainesville Super Regional to advance to the CWS for the eighth time in the program’s history.
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators open the 2013 season with a three-game series against Duke beginning Feb. 15.
All 22 of Florida’s non-conference games scheduled during the first month of the season will be played in the state of Florida, with 20 of those games set for McKethan Stadium.