Defending national champion LSU Tigers check in at No. 2 in preseason poll

LSU comes in at No. 2, the SEC dominates the top 10.

It is almost baseball time again for college baseball. Last year’s national champions, the LSU Tigers are poised to defend their title with another run to Omaha. Jay Johnson’s squad loses Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, but the reloaded team checks in at No. 2 behind the ACC’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Overall, the SEC has three of the top five teams with Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Texas A&M all among the top 10 teams in the country. Eight teams in the preseason USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll hail from the SEC. A future conference team, the Texas Longhorns checks in at No. 13.

The ACC is also well represented with Wake Forest at the top, and fellow in-state schools Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State all among the top 25. The Clemson Tigers check in at No. 9 overall and Virginia is No. 11 to give the conference six teams in the rankings.

A look at the full Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Points
1 Wake Forest 751 (15)
2 LSU 731 (11)
3 Florida 727 (5)
4 Arkansas 672
5 TCU 643
6 Vanderbilt 576
7 Oregon State 543
8 Tennessee 529
9 Clemson 484
10 Texas A&M 468
11 Virginia 431
12 East Carolina 391
13 Texas 381
14 Duke 351
15 North Carolina 342
16 North Carolina State 289
17 Alabama 197
18 UC-Santa Barbara 187
18 Coastal Carolina 187
20 Iowa 186
21 South Carolina 169
22 Texas Tech 157
23 Stanford 121
24 UCLA 80
25 Northeastern 71

Others Receiving Votes

Kansas State 65; UC Irvine 51; Oregon 42; Oklahoma State 41; Auburn 35; Southern Miss 21; Dallas Baptist 21; Troy 19; Ole Miss 16; Florida State 13; UNCW 12; Arizona 10; Oral Roberts 9; Indiana State 8; Connecticut 7; USC 6; Georgia 6; Campbell 6; Kentucky 5; West Virginia 4; Indiana 4; Georgia Tech 4; Maryland 3; Hawaii 3

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