WACO, Texas -- The Baylor men's tennis team will start the 2016 season ranked No. 4 in the country, after the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) unveiled its first rankings of the new season Tuesday.

The team ranking of No. 4 is one spot lower than the No. 3 ranking that the Bears earned to end the 2015 campaign and their highest ranking to start a season since being No. 4 in 2008 as well. BU was No. 6 to open last season.

Last year, Baylor tallied a 25-6 record and made the NCAA semifinals to continue a string of 14-straight years of ending the season in the NCAA round of 16 or better, the longest such streak in the country. Overall, it was the program's fifth trip to the NCAA semifinals. BU finished in the top-20 for a 14th-straight year as well.

In 2016, the Bears will be looking to capture their 14th Big 12 regular season title in the last 17 years and the ninth league tournament crown in the last 15 years.

Individually, junior Max Tchoutakian is ranked No. 59 in singles. He was ranked No. 31 in September's preseason singles rankings and then went 1-2 in singles play with a win over No. 14 Ronnie Schneider of North Carolina.

Baylor is one of just seven schools nationally to have both its men's team and women's squad ranked in the top 15. The Lady Bears are 11th in the country.

The Bears will start the 2016 season with individual play at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup on Jan. 15, before opening its dual-match season on Jan. 23 by hosting No. 68 UC Irvine at 12 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.

Follow the official Twitter and Instagram accounts of the team: @BaylorMTennis for an inside look with results, photos and stories.