After claiming their first regular-season title in school history in 2007 the UTSA Roadrunners received a league-best 18 out of a possible 24 first place votes in the coaches and sports information directors polls.

UTSA leads the Southland Conference returning five automatic selections to the 2008 Preseason Teams, including 2007 award winners Trent Lockwood – Newcomer of the Year, and Tim Palincsar – Freshman of the Year.

A Hitter of the Year candidate and a two-time player of the week in 2007, Lockwood led UTSA in eight offensive categories, including batting average (.378), hits (87), RBI (57) and home runs (14). Those same numbers placed Lockwood in the top six in seven league offensive categories, inclunding finishing second to 2007 Player of the Year Steven Hill of Stephen F. Austin with a .687 slugging percentage.

For the rest of the Preview go HERE!

FROM CONFERENCE RELEASE
EDISON, N.J. – Canisius College is the top choice to win it all during the 2008 MAAC baseball season, according to a preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches.

Canisius finished with 71 points in the poll, four points ahead of second-place Manhattan College (67). Marist College placed third with 66 points. Fairfield University and Siena College tied for fourth place (50), followed by Rider University (36), Saint Peter’s College (34), Iona College (19), and Niagara University (12). Read the rest of this entry »

FROM ACC PRESS RELEASE
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina is favored to repeat as the league champion in 2008, as determined by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. The back-to-back national runner-up Tar Heels were also picked to win the Coastal Division for the third-straight year, while Florida State was predicted to capture its second Atlantic title. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask “Augie-Wan Knobi” about the NCAA rules changes’ effect on the 2008 season and the venerable Texas coach says, “May I look at them in hindsight?” Augie Garrido punctuates that comment with a laugh. He has been around too long to be baffled or amazed by anything.

The teacher in him is never stymied by whatever outside forces bring to bear.

The ever-popular alumni game is no more because the NCAA pushed back the start of the season three weeks, with practice beginning Feb. 1, and the Horns first encounter on Feb. 22 in the newly-renovated UFCU Disch-Falk Field against Virginia Commonwealth.

“The cancellation of the alumni game is disappointing,” Garrido said of the event that has been played annually since 1984.

“Those guys are Longhorns for life and that game was a way to have them back, to keep them a part of what we’re doing,” Garrido said. “I don’t care how we do it, but I want a way to get them back.”

Read the rest Click here

Kendall Rogers has put out his ACC Preview for the 2008 season. He lists Florida State as the favorite in the Atlantic Division and Miami as the favorite in the Coastal Division. The full article is available here.

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
ELMHURST, Ill. – After winning its record 10th straight league championship a year ago, Oral Roberts was selected to claim its 11th consecutive Summit League title in 2008 as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. The Golden Eagles (49 points) were a unanimous selection after garnering seven first-place votes (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams). Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coastal Carolina University’s baseball team has been unanimously voted the Big South Conference’s preseason favorite, as voted by the League’s Head Baseball Coaches and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the Conference office. In addition, Chanticleers’ junior outfielder David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C.) has been voted the Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, while junior teammate Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J.) was voted Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the panel. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — For the past six years, the University of Illinois at Chicago has stood atop the Horizon League baseball standings, winning six consecutive regular-season crowns and three League Championships. The 2008 season could be the dawn of a new era, according to the results of the League’s preseason coaches’ poll, released Wednesday (Jan. 30). Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
Coming off a second straight trip to the College World Series, Rice has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2008 Conference USA baseball poll, chosen by the league’s nine head coaches. Owls junior outfielder/designated hitter Aaron Luna, a preseason All-American, is the Preseason C-USA Player of the Year. Rice hurler Ryan Berry, a national Freshman of the Year selection by Collegiate Baseball last season, was named as the league’s preseason Pitcher of the Year. Read the rest of this entry »

The West Coast Conference announced the 2008 Preseason Conference Poll as selected by the coaches. San Diego is selected to finish in first place as they received seven out of a possible eight first place votes with Santa Clara getting the other one. Pepperdine comes in second place followed by Santa Clara in third place. The conference should be decided by these three schools as they all return veteran squads. The rest of the poll is filled with LMU, Gonzaga, San Francisco, Portland, and St. Mary’s. The full press release is available by clicking here.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
Receiving 77 points and five first-place votes, Long Beach State has been selected to win its first Big West title since 2003, according to the 2008 Big West Conference preseason poll conducted by the league’s nine head coaches. Cal State Fullerton placed second, while Cal Poly followed in third place. Read the rest of this entry »

We are starting with of a three post series previewing the Texas Longhorns written by Djbfootball. The second article in the series is available here and the third is available here.

The 2007 Horns baseball season started with a lot of hope and promise. However, by the time Augie and staff arrived at the Round Rock Regional injuries began to take their toll on the team and even Home Run champion Kyle Russell could not carry this team to the College World Series. The last time Texas was in Omaha was in 2005 and that for a Horn Fan is an eternity. Texas has made it a habit of spending their summers in Omaha making that journey 32 times and winning it all six times. The last time was back in 2005. Read the rest of this entry »