Jan. 16, 2003
WACO, Texas - The Baylor baseball team is ranked 13th in the USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Preseason College Baseball Coaches Poll, released Thursday.
Only three Big 12 Conference schools were listed in this most recent poll: defending national champ Texas (first), Baylor (13th) and Nebraska (19th). Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M each received votes.
Six other opponents on the Bears' 2003 schedule made the rankings. Baylor faces No. 4 Rice and No. 11 Houston in mid-February at the Astros College Classic. One week later, the Bears host sixth-ranked Southern California in Waco. Long Beach State, ranked 16th, will also travel to Waco for a three-game set.
The Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll is the third major preseason poll to be released. Baseball America ranked the Bears 10th in the nation, while Collegiate Baseball earlier ranked the Bears 17th. Baylor has trailed only defending national champ Texas among Big 12 schools in each of the three polls.
Fifteen Baylor letterwinners return from a year ago, when the Bears finished the season 36-26 and lost in the NCAA Austin Regional championship to eventual national champ Texas. Baylor also welcomes 16 newcomers to the team.
Seven former all-Big 12 players return, led by top starters Steven White and Jared Theodorakos. Baylor career saves leader Zane Carlson appears to have returned to form after undergoing arm surgery a year ago, and will once more be closing out Bear victories. Seniors Chris Durbin and Ross Bennett and juniors David Murphy and Trey Webb will anchor the offense.
The Bears, who hold the best cumulative conference record in the Big 12 over the past five seasons, will also depend on returning sophomore starters Michael Griffin (3B/LF), Paul Witt (2B/3B) and Josh Ford (C). Sophomore Trey Taylor will likely round out the weekend rotation.
Baylor begins its 2003 schedule Feb. 4 at home against Southwest Texas before heading to Tucson for a three-game set against Arizona Feb. 7-9. The Bears then return to Texas for the third annual Astros College Classic, to be held at Minute Maid Park Feb. 14-16.
The complete USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Preseason College Baseball Coaches Poll follows on page two of this release.
USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Preseason College Baseball Coaches Poll (Jan. 16, 2003)
1.TEXAS (57-15) Poll points: 965 (19 No. 1 votes)2. GEORGIA TECH (52-16) Poll points: 923 (15)3. FLORIDA STATE (60-14) Poll points: 909 (2)4. RICE (52-14) Poll points: 881 (3)5. STANFORD (47-18) Poll points: 837 (1)6. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (37-24) Poll points: 826 (1)7. LSU (44-22) Poll points: 7248. SOUTH CAROLINA (57-18) Poll points: 6529. ARIZONA STATE (37-21) Poll points: 64010. CAL STATE FULLERTON (37-22) Poll points: 61711. HOUSTON (48-17) Poll points: 59412. WAKE FOREST (47-13-1) Poll points: 58213. BAYLOR (36-26) Poll points: 49614. NOTRE DAME (50-18) Poll points: 46515. CLEMSON (54-17) Poll points: 44416. LONG BEACH STATE (39-21) Poll points: 41017. MISSISSIPPI STATE (34-24-1) Poll points: 38918. RICHMOND (53-13) Poll points: 31019. NEBRASKA (47-21) Poll points: 23920. MIAMI (34-29) Poll points: 23421. AUBURN (34-26) Poll points: 16822. SOUTH ALABAMA (42-19) Poll points: 15823. STETSON (42-19) Poll points: 13924. NORTH CAROLINA (43-21) Poll points: 9825. FLORIDA ATLANTIC (46-21) Poll points: 87
Others receiving votes: Tulane (67), Wichita State (56), Oklahoma (38), Southwest Missouri State (37), Florida (36), Texas Tech (34), California (32), Alabama (29), San Diego State (20), James Madison (20), Central Florida (19), Ohio State (19), Oklahoma State (19), Arizona (16), Virginia Commonwealth (13), Florida International (12), Mississippi (12), Oregon (10), Louisiana-Lafayette (7), Tennessee (6), Georgia (5), Washington (5), New Orleans (5), Arkansas (5), Cal State Northridge (5), Nevada-Las Vegas (3), Rutgers (2), UCLA (1), Kent State (1), Louisville (1), Texas A&M (1), San Diego (1), UC-Irvine (1).
