FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is picked to finish fifth in the SEC West, according to the preseason baseball coaches' poll released Thursday.
Florida is picked to win the SEC East and LSU is expected to win the SEC West. Florida and LSU tied with six votes apiece as favorites to win the overall conference championship, and South Carolina received two votes.
Coaches could not vote for their own team.
Behind LSU, coaches predict Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will finish second, third and fourth, respectively, in the western division. Alabama and Auburn are tied for sixth in the poll.
Arkansas junior outfielder Luke Bonfield was selected to the preseason all-SEC second team and was the Razorbacks' only player recognized. Florida led the way with six preseason all-SEC players, including five on the first team.
2017 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll
Eastern Division
1 Florida (10) – 70
2 South Carolina (4) – 61
3 Vanderbilt – 52
T4 Georgia – 29
T4 Kentucky – 29
6 Tennessee – 20
7 Missouri – 12
Western Division
1 LSU (13) – 72
2 Texas A&M (1) – 55
3 Ole Miss – 51
4 Mississippi State – 36
5 Arkansas – 27
T6 Alabama – 16
T6 Auburn – 16
SEC Champion
Florida (6)
LSU (6)
South Carolina (2)
2017 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team
First Team
C: Mike Rivera, Florida
1B: Evan White, Kentucky
2B: Cole Freeman, LSU
SS: Dalton Guthrie, Florida
3B: Jonathan India, Florida
OF: Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
OF: Antoine Duplantis, LSU
DH/UTL: JJ Schwarz, Florida
SP: Alex Faedo, Florida
SP: Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt
RP: Tyler Johnson, South Carolina
Second Team
C: Jason Delay, Vanderbilt
1B: JJ Schwarz, Florida
2B: Tate Blackman, Ole Miss
SS: Kramer Robertson, LSU
3B: Colby Bortles, Ole Miss
OF: Greg Deichmann, LSU
OF: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State
OF: Luke Bonfield, Arkansas
DH/UTL: Alex Destino, South Carolina
SP: Alex Lange, LSU
SP: Tanner Houck, Missouri
RP: Matt Ruppenthal, Vanderbilt