Florida Gators baseball opens season No. 1

Following a College World Series run last season the Florida Gators will enter the 2016 season as the No. 1 team in the country according to Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I Preseason Poll released on Monday.

This is the eighth consecutive season that the Gators have been ranked in the nation’s oldest college baseball poll and began last season as the No. 6 ranked team in the country.

The Gators lost key players like Harrison Bader, Richie Martin, Taylor Lewis and Josh Tobias but they get back a lot of talent, specifically on the mound.

Logan Shore and A.J. Puk will lead the Gators on the weekend and both are projected as first round picks when the Rule 5 Amateur Draft takes place this season. The Gators pitching staff is deep with returners Dane Dunning, Alex Faedo, Kirby Snead and newcomer Brady Singer. The Gators also welcome back Buddy Reed, who is projected as one of the top draft eligible college players this season, Dalton Guthrie, Mike Rivera, JJ Schwarz, Pete Alonzo and Ryan Larson.

Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad is no stranger to high expectations and their No. 1 ranking goes right along with an Omaha or bust mentality in 2016.

2016 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s NCAA Division I Preseason Poll

Rank School (’15 Final Record) Points
FLORIDA (52-18) 495
Louisville (47-18) 492
Vanderbilt (51-21) 489
Miami (FL) (50-17) 487
Texas A&M (50-14) 484
UL-Lafayette (42-23) 483
LSU (54-12) 481
Oregon State (39-18-1) 480
Virginia (44-24) 475
UCLA (45-16) 473
Mississippi State (24-30) 469
Cal State Fullerton (39-25) 467
California (36-21) 466
Oregon (38-25) 463
TCU (51-15) 461
Florida State (44-21) 460
Missouri State (49-12) 457
Houston (43-20) 455
Tulane (35-25) 453
Rice (37-22) 451
Georgia Tech (32-23) 449
North Carolina (34-24) 446
Michigan (39-25) 444
Arkansas (40-25) 443
Oklahoma State (38-20) 438
Stony Brook (35-16-1) 436
Notre Dame (37-23) 434
Maryland (42-24) 432
Kentucky (30-25) 430
Pepperdine (32-29) 427
Dallas Baptist (46-15) 425
College of Charleston (45-15) 423
Coastal Carolina (39-21) 421
Missouri (30-28) 419
South Carolina (32-25) 417
San Diego State (41-23) 414
South Alabama (37-20) 411
Winthrop (40-19) 409
Texas Tech (31-24) 407
Texas (30-27) 405

 

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Southern California (39-21), Southeastern Louisiana (42-17), Arizona State (35-23), Florida Atlantic (42-19), Arizona (31-24), Oklahoma (34-27), Stanford (24-32), Auburn (36-26), Ole Miss (30-28), Tennessee (24-26), Alabama (32-28), Georgia (26-28), San Diego (33-22), Iowa (41-18), Clemson (32-29), UC Irvine (33-23), Long Beach State (28-26), UC Santa Barbara (40-17-1), Kent State (31-22), Creighton (32-19), North Florida (45-16), Southern Miss (36-18-1), Nevada (41-15), Illinois (50-10-1), East Carolina (40-22), Wichita State (26-33), New Mexico (32-27), Grand Canyon (32-22), Gonzaga (24-28), Loyola Marymount (33-21-1), Troy (30-25), Texas State (24-32-1), Oral Roberts (41-16), Sam Houston State (31-28), Wofford (39-22), Mercer (35-22), Samford (32-26), UCF (31-27)USF (34-26-1), Southeast Missouri (36-23), Bryant (29-25), Fresno State (31-28), Central Michigan (35-22), Ball State (33-25), Wright State (43-17), UNC 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), NC State (36-23), Connecticut (35-25).

 

Gators’ 2016 opponents in Bold Italics

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC