The Baseball Observer - Jan/ Feb 2017
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Tigers were ranked No. 12 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, released Tuesday. It marked the highest preseason ranking for Clemson since the Tigers were No. 4 in the 2011 Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. TCU is the preseason top-ranked team, followed by Louisiana State and Florida.
Clemson is one of four ACC teams in the top 12 and one of six ACC teams in the top 16 of the Collegiate Baseball poll. Other ACC teams joining Clemson in the top 25 are Miami (Fla.) (8), Florida State (9), Louisville (11), North Carolina (15) and Virginia (16). In all, the ACC has eight teams ranked in the top 40 by Collegiate Baseball, more than any other conference.
The defending ACC-champion Tigers had a 44-20 overall record in 2016 in head coach Monte Lee's first season at Clemson. The Tigers open the 2017 season against Wright State on February 17 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
LONG BEACH, CA.- It’s the first time the Dirtbags will enter a season in the national ranking since 2008. During the 2016 season, Long Beach State moved up to No. 17 in the nation twice in the Baseball America poll, and got up to No. 20 inCollegiate Baseball. In last year’s preseason poll, LBSU was included in the “Receiving Votes” category, just outside the Top 40.
Long Beach State will
play six of the teams
ranked in this year’s
preseason Top 40, led
by the nation’s No. 1
team, TCU. The Horned
Frogs will visit Blair
Field on Tuesday, Mar.
14 in one of the marquee
home games of the season.
LBSU will also host Big West rival and No. 10 ranked Cal State Fullerton Mar. 24-26 for a non-conference series, and visit the Titans to close the regular season May 25-27.
Also on the schedule is a trip to No. 15 North Carolina for a three-game series Mar. 3-5 in Chapel Hill, plus a Big West road trip to No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Mar. 31-Apr. 2 to open conference play. The Dirtbags will also visit a pair of ranked Pac-12 schools in No. 24 Stanford (Mar. 28) and No. 25 Arizona State (Mar. 10-12).
Also of note, Long Beach State checks in two spots ahead of defending national champions Coastal Carolina at No. 19 in the country.
The 2017 season opens Feb. 17-19 at Blair Field. vs. Oklahoma.
#12
Clemson
Courtesy: Brian Hennessy, Clemson Athletic Communications
34
#17
Long Beach
State
Courtesy: Seminoles.com