BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The LSU Tigers are the favorite to win the Southeastern Conference Baseball Championship, as voted by the league’s 12 baseball coaches in the 13th annual preseason SEC poll.
The Tigers seek to capture their 14th SEC Championship, having won or shared the title three times in the past eight seasons (1996, 1997 & 2003) and seven times since 1990. LSU won the both the overall SEC Championship and Western Division titles in 2003, while finishing as the SEC Tournament runner-up, falling to Alabama in the championship game.
In the overall SEC Champion vote, LSU received 11 of the 12 championship votes in the poll, the most possible by one team. South Carolina received the other vote.
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, South Carolina was the favorite with 63 points. Florida came in second with 58 points and Vanderbilt third with 42 points.
LSU was the predicted winner in the Western Division with a total of 66, again collecting the maximum points for a team. Auburn was second with 51, while Ole Miss finished third with 41.
Points were compiled on a 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 2004 season gets underway this weekend with Florida hosting Gardner Webb in a two-game series. LSU plays its first game at UCF in Orlando on Friday, Feb. 13.
The conference schedule is set to begin the weekend of March 19-21, when LSU plays at South Carolina.
The 2004 SEC Tournament will be held May 26-30 at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. Last year’s tournament drew 122,393 fans, the second year in a row of surpassing the 120,000 mark.
Over 1.1 million fans attended regular season games in the SEC last season, the second year in a row the SEC has topped the one million mark in regular season attendance.
Below is a complete look at the 2004 coaches’ vote:
Team Pts. ’03 SEC Rec/Finish
Eastern Division
1. S. Carolina (8) 63 19-11/1st
2. Florida (4) 58 13-16-1/3rd
3. Vanderbilt 42 14-165/2nd
4. Georgia 36 10-20/5th
5. Tennessee 30 13-17/4th
6. Kentucky 17 9-20/6th
Western Division
1. LSU (11) 66 20-9-1/1st
2. Auburn (1) 51 18-12/2nd
3. Ole Miss 41 17-13/4th
4. Alabama 38 14-16/t5th
5. Miss. State 30 17-12/3rd
6. Arkansas 20 14-16/t5th
( ) – First Place Votes
SEC Champion:
LSU (11); South Carolina (1)