TCU overwhelming choice for No. 1 in preseason poll

TCU will open the season atop the USA TODAY Sports college baseball coaches poll.

The Horned Frogs, who have been to three consecutive College World Series, were picked No. 1 by 24 of the 31 coaches on this season’s voting panel. Florida checks in at No. 2 with four

Preseason college baseball (2016 record in parentheses)

1. TCU (49-18)

Points: 764 (24 first-place votes). Previous ranking: 3.

2. Florida (52-16)

Points: 710 (4). Previous ranking: 5.

3. LSU (45-21)

Points: 680 (2). Previous ranking: 12.

4. South Carolina (46-18)

Points: 635. Previous ranking:

14.

5. Florida State (41-22)

Points: 616. Previous ranking:

13.

6. Vanderbilt (43-19)

Points: 581. Previous ranking:

17.

7. Oregon State (35-19)

Points: 563. Previous ranking: Not ranked.

8. Louisville (50-14)

Points: 525. Previous ranking:

10.

9. Coastal Carolina (55-18)

Points: 396 (1). Previous ranking: 1.

10. East Carolina (38-23-1)

Points: 387. Previous ranking:

16.

11. Cal State Fullerton (36-23)

Points: 371. Previous ranking: Not ranked.

12. Clemson (44-20)

Points: 369. Previous ranking:

15.

13. North Carolina (34-21)

Points: 362. Previous ranking: Not ranked.

14. North Carolina State (38-22)

Points: 339. Previous ranking:

20.

15. Arizona (49-24)

Points: 325. Previous ranking:

2.

first-place votes. LSU will open at No. 3, receiving two No. 1 nods. South Carolina and Florida State round out the top five.

The remaining first-place vote went to defending national champion Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers are ranked ninth overall as they begin life in their new conference home, the Sun Belt.

The college baseball season starts Feb. 17. The College World Series will begin June 17 and end June 27 or June 28.

16. Louisiana-Lafayette (43-21)

Points: 316. Previous ranking:

19.

17. Miami (Fla.) (50-14)

Points: 292. Previous ranking:

8.

18. Virginia (38-22)

Points: 271. Previous ranking:

22.

19. Texas Tech (47-20)

Points: 259. Previous ranking:

6.

20. Texas A&M (49-16)

Points: 234. Previous ranking:

9.

21. Stanford (31-23)

Points: 175. Previous ranking: Not ranked.

22. Oklahoma State (43-22)

Points: 160. Previous ranking:

4.

23. UC-Santa Barbara (43-20-1)

Points: 126. Previous ranking:

7.

24. Mississippi (43-19)

Points: 97. Previous ranking:

18.

25. Rice (38-24)

Points: 86. Previous ranking: Not ranked.

Dropped out: No. 11 Mississippi State (44-18-1), No. 21 Boston College (35-22), No. 23 Southern Mississippi (41-20), No. 24 Tulane (41-21), No. 25 Dallas Baptist (44-19).

Others receiving votes: Washington (33-23) 85; Long Beach State (38-22) 62; Maryland (30-27) 59; North Carolina-Wilmington (41-19) 42; Dallas Baptist (44-19) 35; Texas (25-32) 22; Houston (36-23) 20; Arizona State (36-23) 19; Mississippi State (44-18-1) 19; UCLA (25-31) 12; Michigan (36-21) 10; Southern California (28-28) 7; Sam Houston State (42-22) 6; Georgia Tech (38-25) 5; Auburn (23-33) 4; Arkansas (26-29) 3; Florida Atlantic (39-19) 3; Minnesota (36-22) 3; New Mexico (39-23) 3; Oklahoma (30-27-1) 3; Seattle (37-21) 3; Bryant (47-12) 2; Rhode Island (31-27) 2; Tulane (41-21) 2; Cal Poly (32-25) 1; Marist (24-27) 1; Oregon (29-26) 1; Southeastern Louisiana (40-21) 1; Southern Illinois (31-25-1) 1.

The USA TODAY Sports board of coaches is made up of 31 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. The board for the 2017 season: John Anderson, Minnesota; Ed Blankmeyer, St. John’s; Ray Birmingham, New Mexico; Britt Bonneau, Abilene Christian; Ryan Brownlee, Western Illinois; Craig Cozart, High Point; Barry Davis, Rider; Bill Decker, Harvard; Greg DiCenzo, Holy Cross; Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb; Nino Giarratano, San Francisco; Danny Hall, Georgia Tech; Fritz Hamburg, Saint Joseph’s; Carlton Hardy, Savannah State; Dan Heefner, Dallas Baptist; Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State; Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State; George Horton, Oregon; Steve Jaksa, Central Michigan; Link Jarrett, UNC-Greensboro; Dave Jarvis, Belmont; Omar Johnson, Jackson State; Manny Mantrana, Texas Rio Grande Valley; John McCormack, Florida Atlantic; Jeff Mercer, Wright State; Jim Penders, Connecticut; Tommy Raffo, Arkansas State; Mark Scalf, UNC-Wilmington; Dave Serrano, Tennessee; Matt Senk, Stony Brook; Rick Vanderhook, Cal State-Fullerton.