Baseball Big12Sports.com

Quartet of Big 12 Teams Ranked in NCBWA Preseason Poll

Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M appear on the final college baseball preseason poll before the start of the 2012 campaign. The quartet of teams rank in the NCBWA top 35 with the Aggies (No. 5) and the Longhorns (No. 7) earning places in the top 10. Oklahoma sits at No. 14, while Baylor earned the No. 32 spot.

Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M are ranked on all four preseason lists - NCBWA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll. Baylor earned a place on two of the lists, while Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are receiving votes in at least two of the polls.

Future league member TCU ranks in the top 15 of all four polls.

The Aggies ended the season at 47-22, while the Longhorns finished 2011 with a 49-19 record. The two teams posted identical 19-8 conference marks, sharing the regular season crown. Both teams were eliminated from the CWS after two games. It marked the Longhorns' 34th appearance overall, sixth as a member of the Big 12 and first since 2009. The Aggies advanced for the fifth time overall, second as a Big 12 representative and first since 1999. UT closed out 2011 with a No. 6 Baseball America ranking, while TAMU finished at No. 7.

TAMU welcomes back reigning Big 12 Player of the Year Tyler Naquin, who led the nation in hits last season, as well as starting pitchers Ross Stripling and Michael Wacha. The Longhorns return 16 lettermen, including five positional starters and two starting pitchers. Big 12 Freshman of the Year Erich Weiss and NCBWA Freshman Pitcher of the Year and Stopper of the Year award winner Corey Knebel enter 2012 as sophomores.

Oklahoma finished last season with a 41-19 mark and a third-place Big 12 finish. The Sooners concluded their 2011 with an RPI ranking of 22 and were ranked in at least one of the four major polls for 18 of the 19 weeks. Oklahoma returns 11 letterwinners, including four position starters and four pitchers.

Baylor closed out 2011 on the cusp of returning to its first Super Regional since 2005. The Bears fell to CWS participant California, however, ending their season at 31-28. BU returns 20 lettermen including nine pitchers from last season's squad.

The 2012 Big 12 baseball season begins on Friday, Feb. 17 with conference play kicking off the weekend of March 16.