The Gators are ranked sixth in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 50 Division 1 preseason poll, which was released on Monday.
This marks the 14th consecutive season that UF has been ranked in the top-25 of Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. They’ve now been ranked inside the top-6 of the poll in seven of the last eight years.
The SEC leads the country with four teams in the top-10 and 10 teams in the top-50. The Gators will face six preseason top-25 teams this season: No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 3 LSU, No. 9 Mississippi State, No. 12 Florida State, No. 20 Arkansas and No. 23 Miami.
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.
UF opens the 2022 season at home against Liberty on Feb. 18.
Here is the complete Collegiate Baseball preseason top-25:
Rank | Team (2021 Final Record) | Points |
1. | Texas (50-17) | 498 |
2. | Vanderbilt (49-18)* | 494 |
3. | Louisiana St. (38-25)* | 491 |
4. | Texas Tech. (39-17) | 487 |
5. | Stanford (39-17) | 484 |
6. | Florida (38-22) | 481 |
7. | Oklahoma St. (36-19-1) | 480 |
8. | East Carolina (44-17) | 476 |
9. | Mississippi St. (50-18)* | 474 |
10. | Notre Dame (34-13) | 473 |
11. | Georgia Tech. (31-25) | 470 |
12. | Florida St. (31-24)* | 468 |
13. | Texas Christian (41-19) | 464 |
14. | U.C. Irvine (43-18) | 462 |
15. | Louisiana Tech. (42-20) | 461 |
16. | Central Michigan (42-18) | 458 |
17. | U.C. Santa Barbara (41-20) | 454 |
18. | UCLA (37-20) | 453 |
19. | Mississippi (45-22) | 451 |
20. | Arkansas (50-13)* | 448 |
21. | Oregon (39-16) | 447 |
22. | Arizona (45-18) | 445 |
23. | Miami, Fla. (33-21)* | 441 |
24. | Virginia (36-27) | 438 |
25. | North Carolina (28-27) | 435 |