Ole Miss baseball No. 24 in USA Today preseason coaches poll

Published 4:43 pm Thursday, January 26, 2017

The Ole Miss baseball team found itself in another preseason poll Thursday.

The Rebels came in at No. 24 in the USA Today preseason coaches poll. Ole Miss was one of six Southeastern Conference teams to crack the top 25, joining No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Texas A&M.

TCU topped the poll after getting 24 of 31 first-place votes while defending national champion Coastal Carolina is No. 9.

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Ole Miss garnered a No. 8 preseason ranking from Perfect Game and is No. 22 in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll.

Ole Miss won 43 games a season ago, the fifth-most in school history, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in 16 seasons before going two and out in the Oxford Regional. J.B. Woodman, Errol Robinson and Henri Lartigue are gone, but the Rebels have more than half their starters back, including third baseman Colby Bortles (.269, 8 HR, 50 RBIs), who’s received some preseason All-America honors. Ole Miss is also bringing in a recruiting class that’s been tabbed as the nation’s best by multiple publications.

The Rebels will begin practice Friday. Ole Miss will open the season Feb. 17 with the first of a three-game set at Swayze Field against East Carolina, which is ranked 10th by the coaches.