Tampa Baseball Favored to Win Fifth Consecutive SSC Title

MELBOURNE, Fla. –  Sunshine State Conference coaches select Tampa as the preseason number one for the 18th time in the last 19 polls. With 100 points and 10 first-place votes in the ranking, the Spartans are expected to raise the league trophy for the 24th time in program history.

Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern share second in the poll with 79 points, but the Moccasins grabbed the final-place vote. Rollins holds third with 78 points, followed by Embry-Riddle with 64 points, while Lynn lands in the middle of the poll with 56 points. Deeper in the rankings, Saint Leo (43 points), Barry (41 Points), Florida Tech (27 points), Palm Beach Atlantic (25 points), and Eckerd (11 points) round out the preseason listing.

Tampa won the 2024 conference title and earned an AQ to the NCAA tournament following a 24-6 (.800) record in league play. The Spartans won nine of their 10 conference series, including four three-game sweeps. Along with UTampa, Embry-Riddle and Saint Leo received a playoff berth last season. The Spartans hosted South Regional 1, while the Lions hosted and Eagles attended South Regional 2.

Tampa and ERAU emerged victorious from South Regionals #1 and #2, meeting in a best-of-three-game super regional in Tampa. The Eagles bested the Spartans, 15-9, on day one. However, Tampa took the day two double-header 13-3 and 15-1 to punch its first NCAA finals site ticket since 2021. The Spartans cut through the finals site with a 4-0 record and outscored opponents 31 to 12 to win the program's ninth national title.

Following Tampa's 2024 post-season performance, SSC teams have reached the NCAA Division II World Series 47 times. While seven league programs have reached the final tournament, only four programs have won a national championship. Tampa has now tied Florida Southern with nine titles -- both programs lead the SSC and NCAA Division II. Lynn won it all in 2009, and NSU went all the way in 2016.

All 11 teams will open up the 2025 season in non-conference action on Friday, January 31st. League play begins on Friday, February 21st, with 10 teams taking the field. Fans can find the composite schedule for 2024-25 here.

Below are the full results of the 2025 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches cannot vote for their teams (points: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).

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