NCBWA Preseason Top 40 (2/4)

[Alum-Ni]

Link: NCBWA Preseason Poll (2/4)

1. Vanderbilt (35-27)
2. LSU (39-27)
3. Texas Tech (45-20)
4. UCLA (38-21)
5. Oregon State (53-11-1)
6. Florida (49-21)
7. North Carolina (44-20)
8. Stanford (46-12)
9. Louisville (45-19)
10. Florida State (43-19)
11. Mississippi (48-17)
12. Georgia (39-21)
13. Mississippi State (39-29)
14. East Carolina (44-18)
15. Arkansas (47-19)
16. Baylor (37-21)
17. Clemson (47-16)
18. Texas (42-23)
19. Auburn (43-23)
20. Oklahoma State (31-26-1)
21. TCU (33-23)
22. Coastal Carolina (43-19)
23. Michigan (33-20)
24. Cal State-Fullerton (36-25)
25. Duke (45-18)
26. Southern Mississippi (44-18)
27. Minnesota (43-15)
28. Wake Forest (25-32)
29. UC-Irvine (32-24)
30. North Carolina State (42-18)
31. Georgia Tech (31-27)
32. Arizona (34-22)
33. Florida Atlantic (43-19-1)
34. Washington (35-26)
35. Connecticut (37-22-1)
36. Missouri State (40-17)
37. Indiana (40-19)
38. Tennessee Tech (53-12)
39. San Diego State (39-21)
40. Houston (38-25)

Others Receiving Votes (listed alphabetically)
Arizona State (23-32), Dallas Baptist (42-21), Elon (36-23), Gonzaga (33-24), Houston Baptist (29-30), Illinois (32-20), Kentucky (34-22), Louisiana-Lafayette (34-25), Louisiana Tech (39-20), Miami (FL) (28-26), North Carolina-Wilmington (39-23), North Carolina A&T (32-25), Ohio State (36-24), Oklahoma (38-25), Oral Roberts (38-20), Oregon (26-29), St. John's (40-17), South Alabama (32-25), South Carolina (37-26), Stetson (48-13), Stony Brook (32-25), Texas A&M (40-22), Troy (42-21)

 

[k9_r]

Six of our first eleven games come against teams on this list including five games with a pair of top five teams.

Why???

 

[saluno22]

Six of our first eleven games come against teams on this list including five games with a pair of top five teams.

Why???

Well, it's an RPI builder, even if we lose some of them.

While it would be nice to not start 0-7 like in 2013, keep in mind we had our best non-conference start in years last season and ended up with out worst record since the Anderson years. Obviously there was a lot that happened last season (specifically having our pitching staff decimated by injuries), but I would rather be challenged early in the season than not. Hopefully we go 2-2 or better against UC-Riverside and take at least one each of the two succeeding weekends. While that would put us at 4-7 heading into our long home stand, we will probably be playing a lot of new players, looking to replace much of our offensive production from last season, and putting a bunch of rusty pitchers on the mount (not just because of the offseason everyone has to deal with, but returning from injury).

4-7 isn't great obviously, but that is my minimum expectation after 3 weekends all things considered.

 

[coolonetoo]

I’m a proponent of the first weekend’s opponent(s) being historically bad and/or Northern teams to work out the kinks and gain some confidence.

Opening up at Riverside doesn’t exactly fit that description but it’s better than taking on OSU right out of the gate.