Baseball picked to win 2010 Big 12 title
Feb. 16, 2010 AUSTIN, Texas -- The Longhorns have been named the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Big 12 regular-season crown in a vote of the league's head coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday. 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) to start the year. The Longhorns (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. The Longhorns are coming off a runner-up finish in their NCAA-record 33rd College World Series appearance in 2009. Texas posted a 50-16-1 overall record and 17-9-1 conference mark en route to claiming the Big 12 regular-season and postseason titles. Head coach Augie Garrido returns 22 lettermen, including all four starting pitchers and five position starters. The Longhorn pitching staff finished second in the nation with a 2.95 team ERA and ranked first in hits allowed with 7.52 per nine innings. Texas begins the season on Friday with a 3 p.m. contest against the New Mexico Lobos at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
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