BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The 2000 National Champion LSU Tiger baseball team was picked to win the 2001 Southeastern Conference Championship as voted by the SEC’s 12 baseball coaches in the 10th-annual preseason poll, the league office announced on Monday.
In what will be head coach Skip Bertman‘s final season as head coach of the Tigers, LSU seeks its 13th SEC title and its first since 1997. The Tigers won the 2000 SEC Tournament by defeating Florida in the title game, 9-6. However, South Carolina won the league title last season with a 25-5 record.
LSU received nine of the 12 first-place votes to win the league’s overall title, while also garnering 10 of 12 votes (69 points) to win the SEC Western Division once again. In 2000, LSU won the West with a 19-10 overall record.
Florida, the team picked by seven coaches to win the SEC Eastern Division, was allotted the final three votes to win the overall league title.
In the West, LSU was followed by Mississippi State (53 points), Auburn (48), Alabama (42), Arkansas (22) and Ole Miss (18). In the East, Florida (66) was followed by South Carolina (59), Georgia (45), Tennessee (36), Kentucky (26) and Vanderbilt (14).
Points? were compiled on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were allowed to vote for their own team, while each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
The 2001 regular season begins on Friday, Feb. 9, when the Tigers take on Kansas State at 7 p.m. to begin a three-game series. The LSU Alumni game kicks off the season on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
| Team (First-Place Votes) | Points | ’00 Finish |
| Western Division | ||
| 1. LSU (10) | 69 | 19-10/1st |
| 2. Mississippi State (1) | 53 | 17-10/2nd |
| 3. Auburn (1) | 48 | 17-13/3rd |
| 4. Alabama | 42 | 16-14/4th |
| 5. Arkansas | 22 | 8-20/6th |
| 6. Ole Miss | 18 | 12-17/5th |
| Eastern Division | ||
| 1. Florida (7) | 66 | 18-11-1/2nd |
| 2. South Carolina (4) | 59 | 25-5/1st |
| 3. Georgia (1) | 45 | 14-15/3rd |
| 4. Tennessee | 36 | 10-18/5th |
| 5. Kentucky | 26 | 12-16-1/4th |
| 6. Vanderbilt | 14 | 5-24/6th |
Overall Champion:
LSU – 9
Florida – 3