Huskers Tabbed for Eighth in Big 12 Preseason Poll

IRVING, Texas ? The Nebraska baseball team was picked eighth in the Big 12’s preseason coaches poll released Tuesday morning. Nebraska returns four starters and five of its top six pitchers from last year’s team that finished 25-28-1 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.

Nebraska’s 18 returning letterwinners, which includes eight position players who started at least 20 games last year, is the Huskers’ second-highest total under eighth-year head coach Mike Anderson. In addition, the Huskers welcome a recruiting class which was ranked 13th nationally by Collegiate Baseball.

Texas has been named the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Big 12 regular-season crown. The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in all four of the major preseason polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association).

UT (81 points) received nine of the possible 10 first-place votes while Kansas earned the remaining first-place tally and 69 points to come in second. Texas A&M and Oklahoma were third and fourth, respectively, followed by Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas State. Missouri and Nebraska were tied for eighth place, and Texas Tech filled the final spot.

The Huskers will open the 2010 season Friday night at Fresno State. First pitch is 8:05 p.m. (central) and will be carried on the Husker Sports Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington, and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

2010 BIG 12 CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
Rank Team (First-place votes) Points
    1. Texas (9)  81
    2. Kansas (1) 69
    3. Texas A&M 64
    4. Oklahoma 57
    5. Oklahoma State 47
    6. Baylor 39
    7. Kansas State 29
    8. Missouri 22
        Nebraska 22
10. Texas Tech 20
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.