University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Baseball Ranked No. 32 in CBN Poll
12/21/2007 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz. - As the start of the 2008 baseball season nears, national media outlets are beginning to focus their attention on Louisiana as the Ragin' Cajuns earned yet another preseason accolade Friday. The defending 2007 Sun Belt Conference champions have been ranked No. 32 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll.
Louisiana, which finished with a 45-17 overall record last season, is the only Sun Belt school listed among the 40 schools, while Florida Atlantic, Troy and New Orleans were among 50 other schools receiving votes.
Five of Louisiana's 2008 opponents (Rice, LSU, Southern Miss, Nebraska and Oral Roberts) were ranked in the top 40, while another nine programs (Texas-San Antonio, New Orleans, Tulane, Houston, Lamar, Southeastern Louisiana, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech and Troy) received votes in the poll.
Earlier this month, juniors Danny Farquhar (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Scott Hawkins (Collierville, Tenn.) earned national preseason recognition as the pair was named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America team, respectively.
Louisiana officially starts the 2008 season with its annual Fan Day which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 16 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. The Ragin' Cajuns open their schedule the following weekend at the UTSA Baseball Classic Feb. 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Division I Preseason Poll (as of Dec. 21, 2007)
Louisiana's 2008 opponents listed in Italics
| Rank | School (2007 Record) | Points |
| 1. | Arizona (42-17) | 496 |
| 2. | South Carolina (46-20) | 493 |
| 3. | Arizona State (49-15) | 491 |
| 4. | Mississippi (40-25) | 487 |
| 5. | North Carolina (57-16) | 486 |
| 6. | Rice (56-14) | 483 |
| 7. | San Diego (43-18) | 481 |
| 8. | Texas (46-17) | 478 |
| 9. | Wichita State (53-22) | 476 |
| 10. | Michigan (42-19) | 473 |
| 11. | Vanderbilt (54-13) | 471 |
| 12. | Florida State (49-13) | 468 |
| 13. | Clemson (41-23) | 466 |
| 14. | Miami, Fla. (37-24) | 464 |
| 15. | Missouri (42-18) | 461 |
| 16. | Cal State Fullerton (38-25) | 459 |
| 17. | Long Beach State (39-20) | 455 |
| 18. | UCLA (33-28) | 452 |
| 19. | Oregon State (49-18) | 451 |
| 20. | Kentucky (34-19-1) | 447 |
| 21. | Fresno State (38-29) | 446 |
| 22. | Texas A&M (48-19) | 443 |
| 23. | Louisville (47-24) | 440 |
| 24. | Virginia (45-16) | 437 |
| 25. | Georgia Tech (32-25) | 434 |
| 26. | UC Irvine (47-17-1) | 432 |
| 27. | Mississippi State (38-22) | 430 |
| 28. | Baylor (35-27) | 428 |
| 29. | Pepperdine (35-22) | 426 |
| 30. | LSU (29-26-1) | 423 |
| 31. | Oklahoma State (42-21) | 420 |
| 32. | Louisiana (45-17) | 419 |
| 33. | Southern Illinois (39-23) | 415 |
| 34. | Southern Miss (39-23) | 413 |
| 35. | UC Riverside (38-21) | 411 |
| 36. | Stetson (42-21) | 408 |
| 37. | Coastal Carolina (50-13) | 406 |
| 38. | Nebraska (32-27) | 405 |
| 39. | California (29-26) | 403 |
| 40. | Oral Roberts (40-17) | 400 |
Others Receiving Votes: Georgia, Alabama, Creighton, South Florida, Notre Dame, Winthrop, Arkansas, Old Dominion, Texas-San Antonio, New Orleans, Oklahoma, East Carolina, Tulane, Kent State, Houston, Central Michigan, TCU, UCF, Lamar, Southeastern Louisiana, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, USC, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, College of Charleston, Rutgers, Western Carolina, Penn State, Minnesota, Ohio State, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Hawai`i, VCU, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, LeMoyne, Troy, Kennesaw State, Richmond, St. John's, Austin Peay, Southern
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