[Sly Fox]

2015 COLLEGIATE BASEBALL DIVISION 1 PRESEASON POLL
DECEMBER 22, 2014 BRIAN FOLEY
FROM COLLEGIATE BASEBALL RELEASE

Armed with one of the top pitching staffs in the nation and five returning position player starters, Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

Here's the list ...

Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll
(As of Dec. 22, 2014)

Rank Team (2014 Record) Points
1. Vanderbilt (51-21) 494
2. Texas Christian (48-18) 492
3. Virginia (53-16) 489
4. Louisiana St. (46-16-1) 487
5. Oklahoma St. (48-18) 485
6. Florida (40-23) 483
7. Texas (46-21) 480
8. Houston (48-18) 479
9. Texas Tech. (45-21) 477
10. UCLA (25-30-1) 473
11. Florida St. (43-17) 469
12. Louisville (50-17) 468
13. Cal. Poly (47-12) 467
14. Miami, Fla. (44-19) 465
15. Oregon (44-20) 462
16. U.C. Santa Barbara (34-17-1) 460
17. Cal. St. Fullerton (34-24) 458
18. Stanford (35-26) 457
19. Arizona St. (33-24) 454
20. Mississippi St. (39-24) 452
21. South Carolina (44-18) 449
22. Rice (42-20) 446
23. Liberty (41-18) 445
24. North Carolina (35-27) 443
25. College of Charleston (44-19) 440
26. Georgia Tech. (37-27) 438
27. Kennesaw St. (40-24) 436
28. Clemson (36-25) 432
29. St. John’s (35-20) 430
30. Kent St. (36-23) 427
31. Ball St. (39-18) 425
32. Wichita St. (31-28) 424
33. Tennessee (31-23) 421
34. San Diego (34-20) 419
35. Loyola Marymount (32-24) 417
36. Arkansas (40-25) 414
37. Maryland (40-23) 412
38. Nebraska (41-21) 411
39. U.C. Irvine (41-25) 409
40. Illinois (32-21) 405

Other Teams Receiving Votes: Oregon St. (49-15), San Diego St. (42-21), Louisiana-Lafayette (58-10), Kentucky (37-25), Washington (41-17-1), Mississippi (48-21), Southern California (29-24), Alabama (37-24), Texas A&M (36-26), Arizona (22-33), New Mexico (37-20), Nevada-Las Vegas (36-25), Dallas Baptist (40-21), Indiana St. (35-18), Sacramento St. (40-24), Troy (25-32), Texas St. (30-28), Pepperdine (43-18), Grand Canyon (30-23), Miami, Ohio (30-27), Southern Mississippi (35-25), Florida International (36-20), Indiana (44-15), Sam Houston St. (43-19), Michigan (30-29-1), Central Florida (36-23), Florida Gulf Coast (39-22), Stony Brook (35-18), St. Louis (34-21-1), Seton Hall (39-15), Creighton (32-17-1), Campbell (41-21), South Alabama (22-33), Winthrop (27-30), Coastal Carolina (24-33), William & Mary (34-22), Wright St. (35-22), Central Michigan (35-23), Bryant (42-16), S.E. Missouri St. (37-20), Tennessee Tech. (40-19), Mercer (38-17), Samford (35-25), Western Carolina (37-18), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (31-27), Southeastern Louisiana (38-25).

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[ballcoach15]

It's great to be ranked in pre-season poll. Anyone know how many of the Top 40 teams we play this season ?

[Chippy]

It's great to be ranked in pre-season poll. Anyone know how many of the Top 40 teams we play this season ?

7 so far.

[ATrain]

It ain't how you start, its how you finish that matters...and lets hope Coastal and Winthrop can regain their old forms to make the Big South into a formidable baseball league.

[Cider Jim]

It's not how you start; it's how you finish.

Jeff Meyer

[ATrain]

It's not how you start; it's how you finish.

Jeff Myer

*Jeff Meyer

[aredd33]

Have the preseason conference picks been released yet?
I'm sure we will be the favorite but I'm just curious who number 2 will be...Campbell? High Point? Will Coastal be back to form?

[ballcoach15]

With basketball season a wash out, I have dialed my radar screen towards baseball.

[JakeP50]

With basketball season a wash out, I have dialed my radar screen towards baseball.

Please I did that before Christmas.

[Flamepop]

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/10583

another preseason preview, #44

[krh44]

I like these preseason rankings but I am kind of surprised. I did know what our weekend rotation looked like. We lost some good arms last year. Any idea who the starters will be?

[BJWilliams]

Bean is in...take that to the bank. My guess is he gets the Friday spotlight start. Lyons probably is in line for one of the remaining spots. the third spot (likely Sunday) is the big question mark. Maybe one of the local freshmen (Clinton or Floyd)? Maybe Victor Cole? maybe Pennington moves to the weekend?

[krh44]

Just watch the update w/ Nick Pierce and Toman says AP maybe the Saturday starter.

[BJWilliams]

Interesting decision...this gives pro scouts a chance to see him in long innings here early on after only seeing him in 1 or 2 innings a lot of last year

[flamehunter]

Chris details it more here.

http://www.newsadvance.com/sports/liber ... 2ec08.html

[SuperJon]

Just watch the update w/ Nick Pierce and Toman says AP maybe the Saturday starter.

I'm not so sure about this one. I'll give it a shot, but Perritt's going to have to significantly change the way he pitches to be able to go more than five innings.

[Chippy]

Just watch the update w/ Nick Pierce and Toman says AP maybe the Saturday starter.

I'm not so sure about this one. I'll give it a shot, but Perritt's going to have to significantly change the way he pitches to be able to go more than five innings.

I'm sure Quinn is already working with him on that. Remember he started the South Carolina game in the regional 2 years ago after playing outfield and pitching in relief throughout the regional. He didn't quite have the legs (velocity) for that game but he sure showed a lot of heart given the situation.

[SuperJon]

He's got a ton of heart. He's definitely going to compete. Chris quoted Toman saying Perritt's going to have to learn when to dial it back and when to go all out. I think that's the key to the whole experiment.

[BJWilliams]

If he can figure that out Jon, he is going to be a very high draft pick this summer

[flamehunter]

Chris states that he developed a split change last summer to go along with his fastball and curve. If that is effective it will certainly help him go more innings.

[Chippy]

We'll probably need 6 starters given the 3-4 game weekends and two midweek games. I sense Herndon is still on the shelf and Clowers stays in the pen for relief duty with Lyons. It seems there are 2 for sure with Perritt and Bean and maybe Pennington who pitched sparingly last year as starters.

[Chris Lang]

Clowers will start the year in the weekend rotation. Best-case scenario on Herndon is an April return, and Toman will have to make a decision soon on whether or not to put him on the 35-man. If he can't pitch, you waste a roster spot. If doctors are confident he'll be able to make it back for the stretch run, they'll take that chance.

[BJWilliams]

So it looks like Bean, Clowers and Perritt to start the season on the weekend with Herndon out. Pennington could probably take one of the midweek spots. my question is where do guys like Zach Clinton and Hunter Floyd factor into the plans along with Victor Cole

[Chris Lang]

That's why you practice and scrimmage for three weeks, trying to find answers to those questions.

[BJWilliams]

Fair enough. if we can hash out 3 or 4 guys we can mix and match for midweek starts, we can have some serious depth come tournament time