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Published Feb 15, 2021
Rivals' Ultimate 2021 SEC Baseball Preview
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
Managing Editor
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@NWAHutch

After the 2020 season was unexpectedly cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, college baseball makes its triumphant return Friday.

All 14 SEC teams were scheduled to open the 2021 season this weekend, but Kentucky's series at North Carolina has been canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Wildcats' program.

That could be an issue throughout the season and stadiums across the conference won't be as packed as usual, but baseball is back. To help you get ready for it, Rivals worked together to bring you breakdowns of each team in the best conference in the country.

Links to each preview - which includes a projected roster, weekend rotation and key reserves/bullpen arms - can be found below, as well as the Rivals Preseason Composite Poll, the preseason All-SEC teams, the coaches' preseason predicted order of finish and a list of the biggest non-conference games of the season...

Team Previews

Western Division

Alabama

Arkansas

Auburn

LSU

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Texas A&M

Eastern Division

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Missouri

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vanderbilt

Rivals Preseason Composite Poll

Click here for more details

2021 Rivals Preseason Composite Baseball Poll
Receiving votes: Georgia (20), Auburn (13), Indiana (12), Duke (10), Wake Forest (10), Oklahoma (7), Coastal Carolina (3), Ohio State (3), UCF (3), Dallas Baptist (2), Alabama (1), Clemson (1)
TeamPointsHigh/Low

1. Florida

150

1/1

2. UCLA

141

2/4

3. Texas Tech

135

3/4

4. Vanderbilt

132

2/6

5. Ole Miss

126

4/6

6. Louisville

119

2/11

7. Mississippi State

106

7/12

8. LSU

97

7/13

9. Miami (FL)

86

6/21

10. Virginia

83

5/16

11. UC-Santa Barbara

79

8/21

12. Arkansas

76

8/22

13. Texas

74

9/22

14. N.C. State

73.5

t-11/17

15. TCU

65.5

10/NR

16. Arizona

62

10/22

t-17. Florida State

39

9/NR

t-17. Georgia Tech

39

15/NR

19. East Carolina

34

13/NR

t-20. South Carolina

30

18/NR

t-20. Tennessee

30

16/NR

22. Oklahoma State

23

17/NR

t-23. Arizona State

22

15/NR

t-23. Michigan

22

18/NR

25. West Virginia

21

14/NR

Coaches' Preseason Preseason All-SEC Teams

First Team
Pos.PlayerTeam

C

Casey Opitz

Arkansas

1B

T.J. Collett

Kentucky

2B

Robert Moore

Arkansas

3B

Rankin Woley

Auburn

SS

Ryan Bliss

Auburn

OF

Jud Fabian

Florida

OF

Christian Franklin

Arkansas

OF

Tanner Allen

Mississippi State

DH/UTL

Matt Goodheart

Arkansas

SP

Kumar Rocker

Vanderbilt

SP

Connor Prielipp

Alabama

RP

Devin Fontenot

LSU

Second Team
Pos.PlayerTeam

C

Hayden Dunhurst

Ole Miss

1B

Josh Hatcher

Mississippi State

2B

Max Ferguson

Tennessee

3B

Tim Elko

Ole Miss

SS

Josh Rivera

Florida

OF

Rowdey Jordan

Mississippi State

OF

Owen Diodati

Alabama

OF

Cade Beloso

LSU

DH/UTL

Wes Clarke

South Carolina

SP

Jack Leiter

Vanderbilt

SP

Tommy Mace

Florida

RP

Ben Specht

Florida

Coaches' Preseason Predicted Order of Finish

SEC Champion: Florida (12), Mississippi State (1), Vanderbilt (1)

Predicted Order of Finish
WestVotes (1st place)EastVotes (1st place)

1. Ole Miss

78 (7)

1. Florida

91 (13)

2. Mississippi St.

73 (3)

2. Vanderbilt

79 (1)

3. Arkansas

72 (2)

3. Tennessee

58

4. LSU

63 (2)

4. South Carolina

55

5. Texas A&M

36

5. Georgia

51

6. Auburn

32

6. Missouri

28

7. Alabama

31

7. Kentucky

23

Key Non-Conference Games

Biggest SEC Non-Conference Games of 2021
Date(s)Game(s)

Feb. 19-21

- State Farm College Baseball Showcase - Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State vs. TCU/Texas/Tech Tech

- Miami (Fla.) at Florida

Feb. 20

- Notre Dame at LSU

Feb. 26-28

- Round Rock Classic - Auburn/Texas A&M/Oklahoma/Baylor (round robin)

- UCF at Ole Miss

- South Carolina vs. Clemson (one home, one road, one neutral site)

March 4-7

- Frisco College Baseball Classic - Missouri vs. Dallas Baptist (x2), Oklahoma, Arizona

March 12-14

- South Carolina at Texas

- Vanderbilt at Oklahoma State

March 13

- Baylor at LSU

March 16

- Oklahoma at Arkansas

- Florida at Florida State

March 30

- Georgia at Clemson

- Missouri at Kansas

- Texas at Texas A&M

April 6

- Kentucky at Louisville

- South Carolina vs. North Carolina (Charlotte, N.C.)

April 13

- Auburn at Georgia Tech

- Florida State at Florida

April 20

- Clemson at Georgia

- Louisville at Kentucky

April 27

- Georgia Tech at Georgia

- Missouri at Kansas State

May 4

- Vanderbilt at Louisville

May 18

- Georgia at Georgia Tech

- Kansas at Missouri