Preseason selections are rolling in this week as the college baseball season is just three weeks away from getting off and running.
The Big 12 announced their preseason all-conference team earlier this week with Oklahoma relief pitcher Jason Ruffcorn and third baseman Peyton Graham receiving honors. On Thursday, the preseason poll was presented with the Sooners coming in right in the middle of the pack in fifth.
First look 👀 at the 2021 #Big12Baseball Preseason Poll ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ibZ8yK3mHW
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 28, 2021
Texas Tech, TCU, Texas and Oklahoma State take the top four spots ahead of Oklahoma. While the Sooners certainly hope to finish higher than this projected spot, and have the talent to do so, the skepticism from the other coaches isn’t completely unwarranted given what they lost from last season.
What made the 2020 team so good was their stout weekend rotation, but all three pieces of that (Cade Cavalli, Levi Prater and Dane Acker) are now in the professional ranks. The pitching staff will still be very strong and there are many key pieces returning to the team from last year in general, but they will still have to re-earn the respect from the other teams in the Big 12 as a top team in the conference again given those guys being gone.
They will get that chance very soon with the season opener against Southern set for Feb. 19th rapidly approaching.
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