FLORIDA NO. 1 IN CB’S PRE-SEASON POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — Florida is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The defending national champions feature five Collegiate Baseball pre-season All-Americans as they return five position player starters and a number of superb pitchers from a ball club that rolled to a 52-19 record last season.

Factor in the second best recruiting class in the USA last fall as determined by Collegiate Baseball which includes six drafted players among a 16-man class, and the Gators are the favorite to win it all in 2018.

Florida leads all NCAA Div. I programs with six appearances at the College World Series over the past eight seasons, including the last three.

The Gators feature three Collegiate Baseball pre-season All-American pitchers, including potential first round draft picks next June in RHP Brady Singer (9-5, 3.21 ERA, 129 K, 32 BB) and RHP Jackson Kowar (12-1, 4.08 ERA, 84 K, 44 BB).

Another All-American is RHP closer Michael Byrne (19 SV, 1.67 ERA, 38 AP, 15 BB). Last season, Byrne set a new school record with 19 saves.

Florida is expected to have another superb defense. The Gators didn’t commit an error in its last five games of the 2017 College World Series in the most pressure-packed games of the season, an all-time CWS record. As a team, the Gators only allowed 28 stolen bases in 50 attempts over 71 games.

Offensively, Florida should be much stronger than one season ago as numerous injuries impacted the production. Key starters return healthy along with impressive newcomers who will add power and speed to the lineup.

Poll Notes: Five teams from the Southeastern Conference are ranked in the top 10 including (1) Florida, (3) Arkansas, (6) Vanderbilt, (8) Kentucky and (10) Louisiana St. Overall in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40, 10 SEC teams are ranked, the most by any conference in the USA. The Atlantic Coast Conference is second with eight teams.

An in-depth story about why Florida is ranked No. 1 is in the Jan. 5, 2018 edition of Collegiate Baseball which is now available along with a rundown on the top 40 NCAA Div. I teams in the USA. To purchase this issue or subscribe, CLICK HERE.

This 2018 College Pre-Season Edition also includes the Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season All-Americans, a list of the top 92 draft eligible college players in the nation who have a chance of being picked in the first three rounds of next June’s MLB Draft.

Plus, it has a rundown on the top teams and players in every NCAA Division I conference, including projected Players and Pitchers of The Year. In addition, we delve into every other level of college baseball with in-depth rundowns on the top teams and players in each division.

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball’s

FABULOUS 40

NCAA Div. I Pre-Season Poll

(As of Dec. 19, 2017)

Presented B y

www.bigleaguechew.com

