Louisville Named ACC Baseball Preseason Favorite
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – For the third year in a row, Louisville has been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball preseason favorite by the league’s 14 head coaches. The coaches voted Miami as the favorite to win the Coastal Division.
Louisville received nine votes as the likely overall ACC winner. Miami and Virginia received two votes each, and Florida State had one.
Louisville was also picked to finish atop the Atlantic Division with 95 total points, followed by NC State with 74 and Florida State with 73. Clemson placed fourth with 48, followed by Wake Forest (45), Boston College (39) and Notre Dame (18). The Cardinals received 11 votes as the division favorite, while NC State, Florida State and Clemson had one each.
Seven coaches picked Miami to win the Coastal Division, while Virginia had five first-place votes and Georgia Tech two. The Hurricanes tallied 89 total points, followed by Virginia (85) and Georgia Tech (71). Duke placed fourth in the voting with 59 points, followed by North Carolina (40), Virginia Tech (31) and Pitt (17).
Louisville finished 51-18 two years ago while reaching the final bracket of the CWS and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation when the COVID-19 pandemic halted play early in the 2020 season. The Cardinals are ranked among the top 10 this preseason in five of the six major national polls. Miami and Virginia have also received multiple top-10 rankings.
Ten ACC teams have been ranked in at least one major poll during the 2021 preseason, and 27 different ACC players have been named to at least one preseason All-America Team.
The ACC has placed at least one team in each of the last 14 College World Series and at least six teams in each of the last 16 NCAA Tournaments.
All 14 ACC baseball teams open their seasons on Friday, February 19, with conference play set to begin on Friday, February 26. The 15-game ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 25-30 at a site to be announced in the coming weeks.
Full results of the 2021 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll, with first-place votes in parenthesis:
Overall Champion:
Louisville
Atlantic Division
1. Louisville (11) - 95
2. NC State (1) - 74
3. Florida State (1) - 73
4. Clemson (1) - 48
5. Wake Forest - 45
6. Boston College - 39
7. Notre Dame - 18
Coastal Division
1. Miami (7) - 89
2. Virginia (5) - 85
3. Georgia Tech (2) - 71
4. Duke - 59
5. North Carolina - 40
6. Virginia Tech - 31
7. Pitt - 17