Jan. 22, 2001

WACO - The Baylor baseball team is ranked 16th in the USA Today/Baseball Weekly preseason poll, the publication announced Monday.

Georgia Tech, armed with 2000 Baseball America player of the year Mark Teixiera, is ranked No. 1, while defending national champ Louisiana State is ranked 2nd.

The Bears join three other Big 12 teams in the poll. Nebraska is ranked the highest at 7th, while Oklahoma checks in at 19th and Texas is 20th.

The 2001 preseason ranking is the highest Baylor has received. The Bears are ranked 17th by Baseball America and 20th by Collegiate Baseball.

Baylor, the 2000 Big 12 Champion, begins the season February 1 at the Astros College Classic in Houston, Texas, with a 6 p.m. game against No. 11 Rice.