FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – With the start of the 2018 college baseball season just a month away, D1Baseball.com released their preseason poll and Arkansas is considered a contender for the national championship.
The Razorbacks were picked fourth in the preseason poll and are one of seven teams from the SEC ranked in the top 16. Defending national champion Florida is the preseason No. 1.
Arkansas opens their season on Feb. 16 as they host Bucknell for a three game series.
Facing ranked teams will be a regular occurance for Arkansas this season as the Razorbacks have 22 games against teams in the preseason poll, 10 of which will be at home. Arkansas travels to top ranked Florida for a three game series (March 23-25) while No. 3 Texas Tech visits Baum Stadium for a two game midweek series (April 24-25).
Kentucky (8th), Ole Miss (9th), Texas A&M (10th), Mississippi State (12th) and defending national runner-up LSU (16th) are all in the preseason poll and have three game series scheduled with the Razorbacks. Arkansas will host No. 21 Texas in a midweek series on March 13-14.
Arkansas ended the 2017 ranked No. 20 in the D1Baseball.com poll.