Tag: Big 12 preseason poll

Oklahoma Sooners preseason voted No. 1 in Big 12 preseason coaches poll

The Oklahoma Sooners were voted No. 1 in Big 12 preseason coaches poll. How did the rest of the conference stack up?

Surprise, surprise. The three-time defending national champions were voted to win the Big 12. The Sooners have won 11 consecutive Big 12 titles and haven’t lost a regular season series in the conference since 2011 and are 121-4 in Big 12 play since 2016.

In 2023, the Sooners went 18-0 and outscored their conference opponents 123-17 along the way. The pitching staff threw 10 shutouts against Big 12 competition.

In the expanded Big 12, new foes await, but until someone’s able to knock of the Sooners, they’ll remain the favorite in the conference and for the national title.

When they begin the season on February 8 against Utah State, they’ll look to extend their 53-game winning streak and begin their trek to a fourth-straight national championship. No one has ever won four-straight titles, but this Sooners squad looks set up to make another run.

The Sooners return four All-Big 12 first-team selections, including Big 12 Player of the Year [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag].

Let’s take a look at the Big 12 coaches poll.

Note: Coaches could not vote for their own team.

Texas Baseball: Horns come in at No. 4 in Big 12 preseason poll

Texas has lots to prove on the baseball diamond this season.

The Big 12 Conference announced its 2023 preseason coaches poll on Thursday. Texas checks in as No. 4 on the list behind Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU.

Here is a complete look at how the coaches voted ahead of the season.

  1. TCU (5)
  2. Oklahoma State (4)
  3. Texas Tech
  4. Texas
  5. Oklahoma
  6. West Virginia
  7. Kansas State
  8. Kansas
  9. Baylor

The 2023 Longhorns are going to have a ton of fresh faces in the lineup following back-to-back College World Series appearances. Texas lost the majority of its production from last season, including the likes of Ivan Melendez, Pete Hansen and Murphy Stehly.

David Pierce even hit the reset button on the coaching staff in the offseason, making two new hires to the program.

This season’s roster includes a handful of returning veterans and a talented group of newcomers. Dylan Campbell and Lucas Gordon broke out on the scene for Texas late last season. In addition, Eric Kennedy is a rock-solid player back for his senior year.

Texas has lots to prove on the baseball diamond this season with hopes for another trip to Omaha in June.

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Oklahoma Sooners top Big 12 softball preseason poll

Oklahoma pulled six of seven first places to land atop the Big 12 preseason poll for the 11th straight season.

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is gearing up to defend their national championship and work toward a three-peat. The 2021 and 2022 national champs look to be the favorite yet again with the 2023 season just a few weeks away.

For the 11th straight season and the 14th time in the last 15 seasons, the Sooners landed atop the preseason Big 12 poll. Oklahoma received six of the seven first-place votes given out by the coaches, with Oklahoma State garnering the remaining first-place vote. The Cowgirls, who won the Big 12 tournament title in 2022, are second in the preseason poll. They’re followed by Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and finally the Kansas Jayhawks.

While there’s no replacement for home run queen Jocelyn Alo, Patty Gasso and her staff have done a tremendous job in the transfer portal to mitigate the loss. This offseason, Oklahoma welcomed Cydney Sanders and Alynah Torres from Arizona State and Hayley Lee from Texas A&M. To mitigate the loss of Hope Trautwien, Oklahoma added [autotag]Alex Storako[/autotag] from Michigan.

Even without those additions, the Sooners would have been the prohibitive favorites in the Big 12 and in the national title conversation with [autotag]Tiare Jennings[/autotag], [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag], [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag], and [autotag]Jordy Bahl[/autotag]. But those portal reinforcements put Oklahoma in a position to replicate their offensive production over the last two seasons and match their pitching prowess from the circle.

The Sooners will open the season February 9 in Irvine, Calif. for the Mark Campbell Invitational. They’ll face four teams that made the NCAA tournament in 2022, starting with Duke. They’ll open the season at home on March 3 vs. Incarnate Word and Kentucky.

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Texas Basketball: Horns picked third in Big 12 preseason poll

Texas received one first-place vote in the Big 12 coaches poll.

College basketball season is right around the corner. Just weeks away from the start of the 2022-2023 campaign, the Big 12 preseason coaches poll has been released.

Baylor is the preseason favorite to win the league title according to the Big 12 coaches. The Bears beat out defending national champion Kansas for the top spot.

Texas comes in at No. 3 in Chris Beard’s second season in Austin. The Longhorns bring back one of the more experienced rosters in the country, led by Marcus Carr and Timmy Allen.

TCU checked in at No. 4 after a strong finish last year. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech follow, tied for the fifth place spot.

Here is a complete look at the Big 12 preseason coaches poll.

  1. Baylor (5)
  2. Kansas (4)
  3. Texas (1)
  4. TCU
  5. Oklahoma State
  6. Texas Tech
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Iowa State
  9. West Virginia
  10. Kansas State

The Big 12 is incredibly balanced from top to bottom yet again this season. The conference has a strong argument for the best league in college basketball.

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Texas picked fourth in the 2022 Big 12 preseason poll

The 2022 Big 12 preseason poll picks Texas to finish in fourth place.

Texas is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 conference in 2022 after a less than impressive 5-7 campaign a year ago.

The transfer portal and recruiting ranks did favors for Steve Sarkisian and Texas over the course of the offseason. Texas’ rebuilt roster has those around the program optimistic the Horns can get back in the right direction this season.

Baylor is the media’s pick to win the conference again in 2022. The Bears snapped Oklahoma’s dominant conference title run a season ago and have high hopes for a repeat this year.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are selected behind Baylor with Texas and Kansas State rounding out the top five.

Here is a full look at the 2022 Big 12 preseason football poll.

  1. Baylor (17 first place votes)
  2. Oklahoma (12)
  3. Oklahoma State (9)
  4. Texas (2)
  5. Kansas State
  6. Iowa State (1)
  7. TCU
  8. West Virginia
  9. Texas Tech
  10. Kansas

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Oklahoma baseball selected fifth in Big 12 preseason poll

Oklahoma baseball was selected fifth in the Big 12 preseason poll that was released on Thursday.

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.

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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