Jan. 21, 2008

The Arizona State Sun Devils earn the top spot in the preseason poll of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, as released by the NCBWA.

ASU, which posted a 49-15 mark in 2007, is one of three Pac-10 schools in the Top 11. Arizona (42-17) sits at No. 5 and two-time defending national champion Oregon State (49-18) checks in at No. 11.

North Carolina (57-16), the national runner-up each of the past two seasons, holds down the second spot, followed by Rice (56-14) at No. 3 and South Carolina (46-20) in fourth. Rounding out the Top 10 are Texas (46-17), Ole Miss (40-25), Vanderbilt (54-13), San Diego (43-18) and Wichita State (53-22).

Rank       School                          Conference                   2007 Record         Final 2007 Ranking

1              Arizona State                Pacific-10                       49-15                       4

2              North Carolina              Atlantic Coast              57-16                       2

3              Rice                                Conference USA          56-14                       3

4              South Carolina              Southeastern                46-20                       8

5              Arizona                          Pacific-10                       42-17                       21

6              Texas                              Big 12                             46-17                       12

7              Mississippi                   Southeastern                40-25                       17

8              Vanderbilt                      Southeastern                54-13                       6

9              San Diego                      West Coast                   43-18                       23

10            Wichita State                Missouri Valley            53-22                       16

11            Oregon State                 Pacific-10                       49-18                       1

12            Miami (Fla.)                   Atlantic Coast              37-24                       NR

13            Florida State                  Atlantic Coast              49-13                       14

14            Cal State Fullerton       Big West                       38-25                       10

15            Michigan                       Big Ten                          42-19                       20

16            Clemson                         Atlantic Coast              41-23                       15

17            Missouri                        Big 12                             42-18                       25

18            Long Beach State         Big West                       39-20                       27

19            UCLA                             Pacific-10                       33-28                       26

20            Texas A&M                  Big 12                             48-19                       11

21            Virginia                          Atlantic Coast              45-16                       13

22            UC Irvine                       Big West                       47-17                       5

23            Louisville                       Big East                         47-24                       8

24            Mississippi State         Southeastern                38-22                       9

25            Kentucky                       Southeastern                34-19                       -

26            Baylor                            Big 12                             35-27                       -

27            Oklahoma State            Big 12                             42-21                       18

28            Louisiana-Lafayette     Sun Belt                         23-7                         29

29            Fresno State                  Western Athletic         38-29                       -

30            Coastal Carolina           Big South                      50-13                       19

31            Georgia Tech                Atlantic Coast              32-25                       -

32            Pepperdine                    West Coast                   35-22                       -

33            Southern Mississippi  Conference USA          39-23                       -

34            Louisiana State             Southeastern                29-26                       -

35            Arkansas                       Southeastern                43-21                       22

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (31-26), Austin Peay (40-22), Bethune-Cookman (33-27), California (29-26), Charlotte (49-12), College of Charleston (39-19), Creighton (45-16), East Carolina (40-23), Georgia (23-33), Kent State (33-26), Louisiana Tech (35-24), Memphis (36-27), Minnesota (41-18), Nebraska (32-27), New Orleans (38-26), North Carolina State (38-23), Old Dominion (35-24), Oral Roberts (40-17), Penn State (31-26), Sam Houston State (40-24), South Florida (34-26), Southern California (27-29), Southern Illinois (34-22), St. John's (41-19), Stetson (42-21), TCU (48-14), Texas-San Antonio (36-22), Tulane (34-26), UC Riverside (38-21), UCF (27-32), VMI (34-21), Wake Forest (34-29), Western Carolina (42-20)