Razorbacks, several opponents ranked in preseason coaches poll

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn is shown during a scrimmage Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, in Fayetteville.

— Arkansas is ranked eighth and nearly half of the Razorbacks’ scheduled opponents are ranked in the top 25 of the preseason USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll.

The Razorbacks are in the coaches' preseason top 10 for the fourth consecutive season and ranked in the 46th consecutive coaches poll.

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Arkansas was ranked fifth to open the 2020 season and was ranked 14th when last season was suspended four weeks after it began. The Razorbacks return 28 players from last season's team that was 11-5 at the time the season was called off.

Despite the No. 8 ranking, Arkansas only has the SEC's fifth-highest ranking. Led by top-ranked Florida, the league has nine ranked teams in the poll, including six teams in the top 10.

Other ranked SEC teams are: Vanderbilt (3), Ole Miss (5), Mississippi State (7), LSU (9), Tennessee (16), South Carolina (20) and Georgia (24). Arkansas is scheduled to play every ranked SEC team except Vanderbilt.

Arkansas’ 54-game schedule includes 10 opponents ranked in the preseason top 25. The Razorbacks are scheduled to play those teams a combined 24 times, beginning with three opening-weekend games at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

The Razorbacks’ season-opening opponent, Texas Tech, is ranked fourth. Arkansas is also scheduled to play No. 10 Texas and No. 11 TCU at the event inside Globe Life Field on Feb. 19-21.

Three of the Razorbacks’ other opponents — Auburn, Oklahoma and Alabama — were among the top-five vote getters that did not make the top 25 poll. Texas A&M also received votes.

The coaches poll is not updated until following the third weekend of the season, then updated on a weekly basis until the start of the NCAA postseason.

USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll, 2021 Preseason

Rank - Team (First-Place Votes)

1 - Florida (24)

2 - UCLA (2)

3 - Vanderbilt (4)

4 - Texas Tech

5 - Ole Miss

6 - Louisville (1)

7 - Mississippi State

8 - Arkansas

9 - LSU

10 - Texas

11 - TCU

12 - North Carolina State

13 - California-Santa Barbara

14 - Virginia

15 - Miami

16 - Tennessee

17 - Georgia Tech

18 - Oklahoma State

19 - Arizona

20 - South Carolina

21 - Florida State

22 - West Virginia

23 - East Carolina

24 - Georgia

25 - Wake Forest