TUCSON, Ariz.- Baseball America has placed the Arizona baseball team No. 12 in its preseason poll, making the Wildcats a consensus pick at the spot prior to the first games of the year. The latest preseason poll puts Arizona in the same slot as the previously released Collegiate Baseball poll. The USA Today/Sports Weekly preseason poll will be released later this month.
For the first time in school history, Tulane holds the top spot in the Baseball America’s poll, followed by 2004 College World Series participants LSU, Cal State Fullerton, Texas and Miami. The Wildcats will face both the No. 3 Titans and No. 4 Longhorns during the 2005 regular season.
A trio of Pac-10 teams makes up the second half of the top 10 with Stanford pulling in a No. 6 ranking, Washington at No. 8 and Arizona State at No. 9.
The Wildcats, who finished 12th in Baseball America's final poll after their run to the College World Series last season, will open preseason practices on January 12 with the first game against New Mexico scheduled for Feb. 4 at Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium.
2005 Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Poll
| Rank |
Team |
2004 W-L |
2004 Final Rank |
| 1 |
Tulane |
41-21 |
19 |
| 2 |
LSU |
46-19 |
7 |
| 3 |
Cal State Fullerton |
47-22 |
1 |
| 4 |
Texas |
58-15 |
2 |
| 5 |
Miami |
50-13 |
4 |
| 6 |
Stanford |
46-14 |
9 |
| 7 |
South Carolina |
53-17 |
3 |
| 8 |
Washington |
39-20 |
21 |
| 9 |
Arizona State |
41-18 |
22 |
| 10 |
Georgia |
45-23 |
5 |
| 11 |
Baylor |
29-31 |
NR |
| 12 |
Arizona |
36-27 |
12 |
| 13 |
Texas A&M |
42-22 |
20 |
| 14 |
North Carolina |
43-21 |
NR |
| 15 |
Florida |
43-22 |
16 |
| 16 |
Mississippi |
39-21 |
23 |
| 17 |
Vanderbilt |
45-19 |
17 |
| 18 |
Rice |
46-14 |
11 |
| 19 |
Georgia Tech |
44-21 |
10 |
| 20 |
Notre Dame |
51-12 |
15 |
| 21 |
TCU |
39-26 |
NR |
| 22 |
Long Beach State |
40-21 |
13 |
| 23 |
Oklahoma State |
38-24 |
NR |
| 24 |
Oral Roberts |
50-11 |
18 |
| 25 |
Winthrop |
37-23 |
NR |
Italics denote 2005 Arizona Regular Season Opponent
