Anticipation for the return of college baseball is in the air, and there is much excitement preceding another season of a loaded SEC which boasts many talented teams and players.
On Wednesday, the league unveiled its respective preseason coaches’ poll and Preseason All-SEC teams. Alabama, which made the NCAA Tournament last season and was the No. 7 seed in the 2024 SEC tournament, was picked to finish 13th in the league by the coaches and had three players earn Preseason All-SEC recognition.
The projected finish order, in addition to the fact that it is almost certain to end up inaccurate simply because it’s a preseason list, is not indicative of the Crimson Tide being a bad team by any stretch. The SEC is the best conference in college baseball and now adds strong programs in Texas and Oklahoma for good measure (both of which were picked ahead of Alabama in the poll). For example, South Carolina recently made a big splash hire in bringing six-time SEC Tournament-winning coach Paul Mainieri out of retirement but was picked to finish 14th.
Alabama had been chosen to finish fourth in the SEC West in 2024’s preseason poll, having the eighth-highest point total among the then-14 teams in the conference.
Texas A&M was picked first despite controversially losing coach Jim Schlossnagle to the Longhorns (picked eighth). Reigning national champion Tennessee, against whom Alabama won a home series last March, was second. The Aggies and Volunteers faced off in the 2024 College World Series Finals.
Individual Preseason All-SEC recognition for Crimson Tide players included shortstop Justin Lebron on the preseason first team, while left-handed starting pitcher Zane Adams and senior Will Hodo were named to the preseason second team. Hodo was the primary first baseman last season but received this accolade in the designated hitter/utility category. All are key returners for Rob Vaughn’s squad; Lebron and Adams are poised for big sophomore campaigns. Lebron made the All-SEC first team last season.
The full coaches’ poll, in order, is as follows: Texas A&M, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Texas, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Missouri. The first five of those schools received at least one first-place vote.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
