Kentucky Baseball Picked Sixth in SEC East in Preseason Coaches Poll
The 2023 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll was released Thursday afternoon, and it didn’t favor the Bat ‘Cats.
Kentucky was picked to finish sixth in the SEC East, just one spot ahead of Missouri for last in the division. Tennessee was picked to finish first in the division after a dominant 2022 season in which they finished 57-9. The Volunteers garnered 12 of 14 first-place votes. Florida, which was picked to finish second in the division, received the other two first-place votes. Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Georgia were all picked to finish ahead of Kentucky in the East.
LSU is the favorite to win the West, also receiving 12 of 14 first-place votes. Texas A&M and defending national champion Ole Miss received the other two votes. Just two seasons removed from winning a national title, Mississippi State is projected to finish last in the division.
Four different schools received first-place votes to win the SEC Championship, with Tennessee surprisingly left out. LSU garnered 11 votes, while Florida, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M all received one.
Along with the Preseason Poll, the Preseason First and Second All-SEC Teams were released as well. The ‘Cats didn’t bode well there, either.
Top 10
- 1
Phil Longo Fired
Wisconsin announces firing of OC
- 2
Iowa QB out
Ankle injury sidelines Brendan Sullivan
- 3
Peter Boulware chimes in
FSU legend offers Norvell advice
- 4
Paul Finebaum
'Kirby Smart was different'
- 5
AP Poll Shakeup
New Top 25 shows big fallout from Saturday
Neither the first nor second teams featured any Kentucky representation. Texas A&M had the most representatives from any SEC team with five. LSU and Tennessee had four and Florida had three. Arkansas joined Florida, LSU, and Tennessee as one of four teams to feature two First-Team representatives. In last season’s Preseason All-SEC Teams, Gold Glover IF Ryan Ritter was Kentucky’s lone representative. RP Tyler Guilfoil was named to First Team All-SEC after his stellar 2022 campaign.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Kentucky is a team full of unknown transfers. The ‘Cats have their work cut out for them if they want to make an impression on the SEC this season. In the words of head coach Nick Mingione, “Win for Kentucky.”
Kentucky Baseball kicks its season off on February 17th at Elon.
Stay tuned for KSR’s 2023 Kentucky Baseball Preview coming soon.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard