February 20, 2008
Texas A&M was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 Big 12 baseball race according to a vote of the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday.
The Aggies, who won last season's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, finished 2007 with a 48-19 overall record and a 13-13 league mark and return 19 letterwinners, six position starters and two starting pitchers in 2008.
Defending regular-season champion Texas (80 points) was pegged the league favorite for the seventh straight year and received eight of the possible 10 first-place votes. The Longhorns edged out second-place Missouri, which earned 71 points, including one first-place tally. Baylor, who also claimed a first-place vote, was ranked third followed by A&M, Oklahoma State and Nebraska. Filling the remaining spots in the preseason poll were Kansas State, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech.
The Big 12 placed six teams in the NCAA Tournament last season (Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M), with two-OSU and the Aggies-advancing to a Super Regional.
The Big 12 baseball season gets underway on Friday with nine of the 10 squads in action -- Texas Tech will play its season opener on Saturday.
The Aggies open the 2008 season and a 20-game homestand on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Northern Colorado at Olsen Field.
Season and individual-game tickets, along with information on several special ticket offers, are available by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE or by logging on to aggieathletics.com.
2008 BIG 12 CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
Rk Team (1st) Points 1. Texas (8) 80 2. Missouri (1) 71 3. Baylor (1) 65 4. Texas A&M 60 5. Oklahoma State 46 6. Nebraska 36 7. Kansas State 30 Oklahoma 30 9. Kansas 17 10. Texas Tech 15