Coaches Select Arkansas to Win 2013 SEC Baseball Crown
By: Josh Rultenberg
Updated: February 12, 2013
The Arkansas Razorbacks are predicted to win the 2013 Southeastern Conference baseball championship, as voted
by the league's 14 baseball coaches in the 22nd annual preseason SEC poll.
The Razorbacks, ranked No. 1 nationally in the preseason USA Today
Coaches' Poll, seek to capture their third
SEC Championship and first since 2004. Arkansas returns five position
starters and 10 pitchers from its 2012 squad which advanced to the
College World Series semifinals.
Since 1996, the SEChas
named
a regular season champion as well as a tournament champion. Prior to
1996, the tournament champion was considered the SEC Champion.
In addition to picking a preseason SEC champion, the league's head
coaches voted a predicted order of finish
in the SEC Eastern and Western Divisions. In the Eastern Division,
Vanderbilt was the favorite with 89 of a possible 91 points. Florida
came in second with 67 points, with Kentucky and South Carolina tied at
third with 59. Arkansas received 90 points in the
West. LSU was second with 75, while Mississippi State finished third
with 59.
Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their
own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
The 2013 SEC regular season begins Friday, February 15, with conference
play set to begin Friday, March 15.
The SEC Tournament will be played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in
Hoover, Ala., May 21-26. The 2012 SEC Baseball Tournament drew nearly
130,000 fans, a new record for the event. Seven times in the last 10
years the tournament has surpassed the six-digit mark
in total attendance. An NCAA-record 2,191,785 total fans and 5,181 per
game attended games in the SEC last season. That marked the 11th year in
a row the SEC has topped the one million mark in attendance, leading
the nation once again in that category by a
wide margin.
Eastern Division
Team Pts.
1) Vanderbilt 89 (12)
2) Florida 67
3) Kentucky 59 (1)
South Carolina 59 (1)
5) Georgia 41
6) Tennessee 29
7) Missouri 23
