Florida’s No. 4 ranking from BA marks the team’s fourth top-five preseason nod.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Baseball America released its annual preseason top-25 rankings on Monday morning, with Florida opening the year at No. 4 on the list.
Baseball America becomes the fourth publication to rank the Gators inside the top five this preseason, following D1Baseball<https://floridagators.com/news/2024/1/16/gators-debut-at-no-2-in-d1baseball-preseason-top-25.aspx> (No. 2), College Baseball Central (No. 2) and Perfect Game<https://floridagators.com/news/2024/1/5/baseball-florida-opens-at-no-4-in-pg-preseason-poll.aspx> (No. 4). Florida was one of eight SEC programs to make the cut, which was the most of any conference: No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Florida, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 South Carolina and No. 23 Auburn.
Below is a complete breakdown of D1Baseball’s preseason top 25 with Florida’s 2024 opponents in bold.
1. Wake Forest
2. LSU
3. Arkansas
4. FLORIDA
5. Oregon State
6. TCU
7. Vanderbilt
8. Tennessee
9. Clemson
10. Virginia
11. Texas A&M
12. South Carolina
13. Texas
14. East Carolina
15. Stanford
16. Duke
17. North Carolina
18. Texas Tech
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Iowa
21. Oklahoma State
22. NC State
23. Auburn
24. Northeastern
25. UC Irvine
Outlets with preseason rankings yet to be released are Baseball the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and USA Today Coaches Poll.
Florida returns 14 players from its 2023 NCAA Runner-Up squad including positional starters Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514>, Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522>, Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/15515> and Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/15491> in addition to returning contributors Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> and Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/15512>. Along with All-American Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> and Freshman All-American Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513>, Caglianone slots back into a talented pitching staff that welcomes the returns of Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506>, Blake Purnell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-purnell/15502> and Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/15496>. A deep class of 22 newcomers bolsters the 2024 roster, anchored by seven transfers as the Gators look to make a repeat trip to the College World Series.
The Gators open up the 2024 season<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/schedule> with a three-game series against St. John’s spanning from Friday, Feb. 16 through Sunday, Feb. 18 at Condron Family Ballpark. In addition to season tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/virtual-venue/QlMyNA==>, single-game tickets<https://www.ticketmaster.com/florida-gators-baseball-tickets/artist/1294070> as well as On-Deck Flex Passes<https://floridagators.com/sports/2021/12/10/baseball-flex-pass.aspx> are currently on sale now.
