Rice University Athletics
Baseball Ranked No. 3 In National Writer's Poll
1/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 17, 2008
DALLAS -- Positioned between two Arizona schools and North and South Carolina, the Rice baseball team was ranked third in the country in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) preseason poll for 2008, the organization announced on Thursday (Jan. 17).
The Owls were slotted at No. 3 in the country, behind Arizona State and North Carolina, respectively. Rice is just ahead of No. 4 South Carolina and the University of Arizona to round out the preseason Top 5.
The Blue & Gray is coming off a third place finish at the 2007 College World Series. A year ago Rice went 56-14 on the way to making the semifinals of the CWS for a second-straight year. Since 1996 the Owls have won 12-consecutive conference championships spanning three different baseball leagues.
The NCBWA poll voters come from 30 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. After a preseason Top 35 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national Top 30. Last month Collegiate Baseball magazine tabbed the Owls for a No. 6 preseason ranking in its poll. Ten different conferences among the 293 baseball-playing schools Division I ranks are represented in the poll, listed below. The NCBWA home page is located at the above link.
The 2008 Rice baseball season begins with the program's biennial alumni game on Feb. 2. The official season-opener is a big three-game weekend series on the road against 17th-ranked Long Beach State beginning on Feb. 22.
2008 NCBWA Preseason Poll
1. Arizona State, Pacific-10, 49-152. North Carolina, Atlantic Coast, 57-163. Rice, Conference USA, 56-144. South Carolina, Southeastern, 46-205. Arizona, Pacific-10, 42-176. Texas, Big 12, 46-177. Mississippi, Southeastern, 40-258. Vanderbilt, Southeastern, 54-139. San Diego, West Coast, 43-1810. Wichita State, Missouri Valley, 53-2211. Oregon State, Pacific-10, 49-1812. Miami (Fla.), Atlantic Coast, 37-2413. Florida State, Atlantic Coast, 49-1314. Cal State Fullerton, Big West, 38-2515. Michigan, Big Ten, 42-1916. Clemson, Atlantic Coast, 41-2317. Missouri, Big 12, 42-1818. Long Beach State, Big West, 39-2019. UCLA, Pacific-10, 33-2820. Texas A&M, Big 12, 48-1921. Virginia, Atlantic Coast, 45-1622. UC Irvine, Big West, 47-1723. Louisville, Big East, 47-2424. Mississippi State, Southeastern, 38-2225. Kentucky, Southeastern, 34-1926. Baylor, Big 12, 35-2727. Oklahoma State, Big 12, 42-2128. Louisiana-Lafayette, Sun Belt, 39-2529. Fresno State, Western Athletic, 38-2930. Coastal Carolina, Big South, 50-1331. Georgia Tech, Atlantic Coast, 32-2532. Pepperdine, West Coast, 35-2233. Southern Mississippi, Conference USA, 39-2334. Louisiana State, Southeastern, 29-2635. Arkansas, Southeastern, 43-21Others 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)
