UCLA earns top spot in 2021 Pac-12 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

SAN FRANCISCO - In a vote of Conference coaches, UCLA emerged as the preseason favorite in the Pac-12 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll ahead of the 2021 season slated to begin Friday, February 19. UCLA is the unanimous favorite after receiving all 10 available first-place votes and totaling 100 points.

The Bruins won the most recent Pac-12 regular-season title in 2019 en route to earning the national No. 1 seed headlining five NCAA Tournament participants from the Conference (No. 11 seed STANFORD, No. 16 seed OREGON STATE, ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA). UCLA enters this season at No. 2 nationally in the USA Today preseason coaches poll.

ARIZONA was picked to finish second in the preseason poll with a total of 85 points. The Wildcats, who are ranked No. 19 in the USA Today preseason national poll, narrowly edged ARIZONA STATE (83 points) for the runner-up position. The Sun Devils (No. 10) joined the Bruins (No. 4) inside the top 10 of the final 2020 USA Today coaches poll; ASU (No. 15) also joins the Bruins (No. 3) and Wildcats (No. 10) in the Collegiate Baseball preseason national poll for 2021.

OREGON STATE came in fourth place with 59 points, closely followed by STANFORD (58 points) in fifth and USC (55 points) in sixth. OREGON (47 points), WASHINGTON (45), CALIFORNIA (39), WASHINGTON STATE (20) and UTAH (14) rounded out the poll. 

Non-conference play is scheduled to begin this week with CALIFORNIA, UTAH, WASHINGTON and WASHINGTON STATE aiming to debut on Friday, Feb. 19. Conference competition opens on Friday, March 19. For more information, including television schedules, please visit pac-12.com.

All baseball games will be conducted in accordance with the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee health and safety recommendations and guidelines, available at Pac-12.com/health.

The following are the results of the preseason coaches’ poll. Ten points are awarded for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, eight for a third-place vote, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.

2021 PAC-12 BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL  

	Team (First Place Votes)	Points
	1. UCLA (10)	100
	2. ARIZONA	85
	3. ARIZONA STATE	83
	4. OREGON STATE	59
	5. STANFORD	58
	6. USC	55
	7. OREGON	47
	8. WASHINGTON	45
	9. CALIFORNIA	39
	10. WASHINGTON STATE	20
	11. UTAH	14