Owls Third In National Writer's 2009 Preseason Poll
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 13, 2009
IRVING, Tex. - The Rice baseball team was ranked third in the country in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) 2009 preseason poll, the organization announced on Tuesday (Jan. 13).
The Owls are third behind fellow 2008 College World Series participants North Carolina (ranked first) and LSU (second). Texas A&M and Georgia round out the top five, respectively.
In 2008 Rice went 47-15 on the way to its third-straight trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Since 1996 the Owls have won 13-consecutive conference championships spanning three different college baseball leagues.
The NCBWA poll voters come from 32 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. 3 preseason ranking in its poll. A total of 13 different conferences among the 302 baseball-playing schools are represented in the poll, listed below. The NCBWA home page is located at the above link.
The 2009 Rice baseball season begins with a three-game weekend series on the road against Cal Poly beginning on Feb. 20. The Owls' official home-opener at Reckling Park is set for Feb. 25 against crosstown rival Houston at 4 pm.
Rank-School-2008 Record-Final '08 Poll Place
1 North Carolina Atlantic Coast 54-14 3
2 LSU Southeastern 49-19-1 6
3 Rice Owls 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).