Tampa Baseball Tops in Preseason SSC Poll

MELBOURNE, Fla. –  Sunshine State Conference coaches select the University of Tampa as the preseason number one for the 14th time in the last 15 polls. With 64 points and eight first-place votes in the poll, the Spartans are expected to lift the league trophy for the 20th time in program history.

Barry University and Florida Southern College finish tied for second in the voting with 51 points apiece. However, FSC pulled in the final first-place vote. Nova Southeastern University follows in fourth place with 46 points, while Lynn University (31 points) edges out Rollins College (30 points) for fifth place. Palm Beach Atlantic University (19 points), Florida Tech (16 points), and Saint Leo University (16 points) round out this year's preseason ranking. 

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SSC teams played between 17 and 24 games in 2020 due to the widespread Coronavirus. Barry finished the shortened season with a league-best 17-4 overall record (.810), followed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at 16-7 (.696), then Tampa at 15-7 (.682). Seven of 11 teams had winning records when the season came to a halt. Five teams owned a .667 winning percentage in conference play, with Barry playing the most games at 6-3 and three teams ended up 4-2 records.

Tampa is the defending NCAA Division II baseball champion. In 2019, the Spartans advanced to the Super Regional where they swept Delta State University. At the NCAA finals site, UT defeated Mercyhurst University two times along with the University of California - San Diego and Colorado Mesa University to hoist the championship trophy for the eighth time in program history.

Following Tampa's title, SSC teams have now reached the NCAA Division II World Series 43 times. While seven league teams have reached the World Series, only four programs have won a national championship. Florida Southern leads the SSC and NCAA D2 with nine national baseball titles, the last coming in 2005. Tampa follows closely with its eight championships. Lynn joined the SSC baseball national championship ranks after winning it all in 2009, and NSU went all the way in 2016.

The first pitch of the 2021 season will be delivered on Friday, February 26th, with Saint Leo and Tampa sparring in non-conference action. League play opens up shortly after on Thursday, March 4th. The composite schedule for 2020-21 can be found here.

Below are the full results of the 2021 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their teams (points: 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).

 

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