Jan. 13, 2009

North Carolina Tops NCBWA Preseason Poll 

The North Carolina Tar Heels sit on top of the 2009 preseason poll of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

The poll voters are made up of 32 college baseball writers and related media from around the country.

UNC earns the No. 1 preseason spot for the first time in the 12-year history of the NCBWA preseason poll. The Tar Heels were 54-14 a season ago and reached the College World Series for the third consecutive year.

LSU, another 2008 Omaha participant, comes in second, followed by Rice, Texas A&M and 2008 national runner-up Georgia. Defending national champion Fresno State is ranked No. 17.

For more information or to join the NCBWA, go to www.ncbwa.com.

Rank, School, 2008 Record, Final 2008 Ranking
1. North Carolina, Atlantic Coast, 54-14, 3
2. LSU, Southeastern, 49-19-1, 6
3. Rice, Conference USA, 47-15, 7
4. Texas A&M, Big 12, 46-19, 14
5. Georgia, SEC, 45-25-1, 2
6. Florida State, ACC, 54-14, 8
7. Arizona State, Pacific-10, 49-13, 9
8. Texas, Big 12, 39-22, 21
9. Stanford, Pac-10, 41-24-2, 4
10. Cal State Fullerton, Big West, 41-22, 11
11. Louisville, Big East, 41-21, NR
12. Miami (Fla.), ACC, 53-11, 5
13. Georgia Tech, ACC, 41-21, 26
14. Mississippi, SEC, 39-26, NR
15. UC Irvine, Big West, 42-18, 10
16. Oklahoma State, Big 12, 44-18, 17
17. Fresno State, Western Athletic, 47-31, 1
18. San Diego, West Coast, 44-17, 18
19. Baylor, Big 12, 32-26, NR
20. Missouri, Big 12, 39-21, 19
21. Pepperdine, WCC, 38-21, NR
22. Coastal Carolina, Big South, 50-14, 13
23. Kentucky, SEC, 44-19, 23
24. Florida, SEC, 34-24, NR
25. UCLA, Pac-10, 33-27, NR
26. Clemson, ACC, 31-27-1, NR
27. East Carolina, C-USA, 42-21, NR
28. Oklahoma, Big 12, 36-26, NR
29. Arizona, Pac-10, 42-19, 12
30. Michigan, Big Ten, 46-14, 28
31. Oregon State, Pac-10, 28-24, NR
32. TCU, Mountain West, 44-19, NR
33. Southern California, Pac-10, 28-28, NR
34. Tulane, C-USA, 39-22-1, NR
35. Wichita State, Missouri Valley, 48-17, 15

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (35-28), Arkansas (34-24), Auburn (28-28), Bethune-Cookman (36-22), California (33-21-2), Charlotte (43-16), College of Charleston (39-20), Dallas Baptist (37-19), Elon (44-18), Houston (42-24), Lamar (35-23), Long Beach State (38-21), Missouri State (40-17), NC State (42-22), Nebraska (41-16), New Orleans (43-21), Notre Dame (33-21-1), Ohio State (30-26), Oral Roberts (48-14), Oregon (0-0), Sam Houston State (37-25), San Diego State (31-28), Santa Clara (33-22), South Carolina (40-23), Southern Miss (42-22), St. John's (42-16), Tennessee (27-29), UC Davis (35-24), UC Santa Barbara (35-21), UNC Wilmington (44-17), UTSA (39-19), Vanderbilt (41-22), Virginia (39-23).