FAYETTEVILLE — With just under a month until first pitch, Arkansas found itself with another preseason top-20 ranking.
The Razorbacks will start 2019 at No. 18 according to Baseball America, which released its first national poll of the year Monday morning.
Along with the Baseball America poll, Arkansas is ranked No. 16 by D1Baseball.com, No. 13 by Perfect Game and No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball. Arkansas has one more week of individual workouts and will have its first official team practice on Friday, Jan. 25.
Six teams ranked in Baseball America’s preseason poll will face off against the Razorbacks this year, three of those matchups coming inside Baum Stadium including No. 2 LSU (May 9-11), No. 9 Mississippi State (April 18-20) and No. 13 Ole Miss (March 29-31).
The Hogs will also travel to face the No. 1 team in Vanderbilt on April 12-14.
Arkansas is one of eight SEC teams ranked in the Baseball America preseason poll. Joining Vanderbilt and LSU, as well Ole Miss and Mississippi State, is Florida at No 4, Georgia at No. 15 and Auburn at No. 17.
Entering his 17th season at the helm, coach Dave Van Horn returns 14 letterwinners from a year ago and will be looking to continue the success seen last year where the Razorbacks reached the College World Series for the ninth time in school history.
Arkansas is scheduled to open the 2019 season against Eastern Illinois on Friday, Feb. 15 with first pitch at 3 p.m. at Baum Stadium.
2019 Baseball America NCAA Division I Baseball Preseason Poll
| Rank | Team (2018 Final Record) | 2018 Final Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanderbilt (35-27) | 17 |
| 2 | LSU (39-27) | NR |
| 3 | UCLA (38-21) | NR |
| 4 | Florida (49-21) | 3 |
| 5 | North Carolina (44-20) | 4 |
| 6 | Florida State (43-19) | 20 |
| 7 | Stanford (45-12) | 14 |
| 8 | Texas Tech (45-20) | 5 |
| 9 | Mississippi St. (39-29) | 6 |
| 10 | Oregon State (55-12-1) | 1 |
| 11 | Louisville (45-19) | NR |
| 12 | East Carolina (44-18) | 23 |
| 13 | Ole Miss (48-17) | 15 |
| 14 | Clemson (47-16) | 19 |
| 15 | Georgia (39-21) | 21 |
| 16 | Baylor (37-21) | NR |
| 17 | Auburn (43-23) | 13 |
| 18 | Arkansas (48-21) | 2 |
| 19 | Texas (42-23) | 7 |
| 20 | Michigan (33-20) | NR |
| 21 | Southern Miss (44-18) | NR |
| 22 | Duke (45-18) | 10 |
| 23 | Coastal Carolina (43-19) | 24 |
| 24 | Minnesota (44-15) | 8 |
| 25 | UC Irvine (32-24) | NR |
