SEC Coaches pick LSU to win West

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Florida tabbed league champ

Tiger Rag News Services

LSU is predicted to win the 2011 Southeastern Conference Western Division title in the annual SEC preseason coaches poll released Tuesday by the league office. 

Florida was selected to repeat as the 2011 Southeastern Conference overall champion, as voted by the league’s 12 baseball coaches.

LSU, which opens its season at 7 p.m. Friday versus Wake Forest in Alex Box Stadium, is ranked No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball and USA Today/ESPN preseason polls. The Tigers feature 16 returning lettermen from their 2010 squad and 18 newcomers that comprised the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Florida, ranked No. 1 nationally in multiple preseason polls, seek to capture its 12th SEC Championship.  UF returns eight position starters and 11 pitchers from their 2010 squad which claimed the SEC Championship and advanced to the NCAA College World Series.

The league’s head coaches voted a predicted order of finish in the SEC Eastern and Western Divisions. In the Western Division, LSU was the favorite with 63 of a possible 66 points.  Arkansas came in second with 49 points and Auburn third with 46.  Florida was the favorite in the Eastern Division with a total of 66 points. Vanderbilt was second with 55, while South Carolina, last season’s NCAA National Champion, finished third with 48.

Points were compiled on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division.  Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.  Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.

The 2011 SEC regular season begins Friday, February 18, with conference play set to begin Friday, March 18. The SEC Tournament will be played at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala., May 25-29. The SEC Tournament has drawn over 100,000 fans six of the last nine years, including a record 126,000 in 2010. An NCAA-record of nearly two million fans attended games in the SEC last season, the ninth year in a row the SEC has topped the one million mark in attendance, leading the nation once again in that category.

Eastern Division        
Team                    Pts.        ‘10 SEC Rec/Finish  
1) Florida             66           22-8/1st
2) Vanderbilt       55           16-12 / 3rd         
3) S. Carolina      48           21-9 / 2nd
4) Kentucky         33           13-17 / 4th
5) Georgia           26           5-23 / 6th
6) Tennessee      17           12-18 / 5th
 
Western Division        
Team                    Pts.        ‘10 SEC Rec/Finish  
1) LSU                   63           14-16 / 5th
2) Arkansas         49           18-12 / 2nd
3) Auburn             46           20-10 / 1st          
4) Ole Miss          40           16-14 / 3rd
5) Alabama          33           15-15 / 4th         
6) Miss. State      17           6-24 / 6th