The Gators have been ranked ninth in D1Baseball’s preseason poll, which was released on Tuesday morning.
UF was previously ranked No. 6 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 23 by Perfect Game.
The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams in D1Baseball’s top-25. Six of those teams are ranked inside the top-10.
The Gators are scheduled to play eight top-25 teams this season: No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 8 LSU, No. 11 Florida State, No. 16 Georgia, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 25 Miami.
Texas is D1Baseball’s preseason No. 1 team for the first time ever.
Florida returns 19 players from the 2021 squad that earned the opportunity to host a regional but went 0-2 in the postseason. Among those returnees are six offensive starters and ace pitcher Hunter Barco.
Additionally, the Gators have welcomed in a 16-player freshmen class that was ranked No. 1 in the country by Perfect Game and No. 2 by D1Baseball and Baseball America.
UF opens the 2022 season at home against Liberty on Feb. 18.
Here is the complete D1Baseball preseason poll:
1. Texas
2. Arkansas
3. Vanderbilt
4. Mississippi State
5. Ole Miss
6. Stanford
7. Oklahoma State
8. LSU
9. Florida
10. NC State
11. Florida State
12. East Carolina
13. Notre Dame
14. Texas Tech
15. Arizona
16. Georgia
17. TCU
18. Oregon State
19. Tennessee
20. UC Irvine
21. Georgia Tech
22. Dallas Baptist
23. Duke
24. Long Beach State
25. Miami