The Missouri Tiger baseball team was picked to finish tied in 8th place with Nebraska in the Big 12 coaches preseason poll. The Tigers went 35-27 losing in the NCAA regionals last year, but they return just one starting infielder, they need a new catcher and senior Aaron Senne who mostly played in the outfield his last three seasons will move to first base. Senne was drafted by his hometown Minnesota Twins, but decided to come back to Mizzou for his senior season. The Tigers open up play in Tempe Arizona against Gonzaga, Washington and New Mexico State on February 19th.
Texas has been named the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Big 12 regular-season crown. The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in all four of the major preseason polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association).
UT (81 points) received nine of the possible 10 first-place votes while Kansas earned the remaining first-place tally and 69 points to come in second. Texas A&M and Oklahoma were third and fourth, respectively, followed by Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas State. Missouri and Nebraska were tied for eighth place, and Texas Tech filled the final spot. Iowa State does not have a baseball program.