Jan. 10, 2007

Columbia, S.C. –
The South Carolina baseball team has been selected No. 3 in the Rivals.com Preseason Top 25 rankings released on Wednesday afternoon (January 10). It is the third straight Top 10 ranking the Gamecocks have received in the preseason. Carolina was also ranked No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top 40 and No. 6 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 50. South Carolina will open its season on February 9, 2007 vs. Oklahoma at a tournament hosted by UNC Wilmington. The Gamecocks are the top ranked SEC school in the first three preseason rankings released. Other SEC teams ranked by Rivals.com include Vanderbilt (No. 7), Arkansas (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 11), Georgia (No. 22), Kentucky (No. 23) and Alabama (No. 24). Rice is the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.

South Carolina returns six position starters back from last year’s team that reached the NCAA Super Regional and also adds a recruiting class ranked No. 1 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball and No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America. Last year’s Super Regional appearance was Carolina’s sixth in the past seven seasons, making the Gamecocks one of only three teams in the nation to achieve that feat since the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has reached the College World Series three times (2002, 2003, 2004), won two SEC championships (2000, 2002) as well as an SEC Tournament title (2004). Carolina’s seven consecutive years reaching the NCAA Regionals is also the longest current streak among all 12 SEC schools. Over the past seven years, the Gamecocks own a 342-135 record; the fourth highest win total in Division I Baseball as well as an SEC-best 130-79 record in conference match-ups.

RIVALS.COM PRESEASON TOP 25
1.	Rice
2.	North Carolina
3.	South Carolina
4.	Virginia
5.	Miami (Fla.)
6.	Texas
7.	Vanderbilt
8.	Arizona State
9.	Arkansas
10.	Clemson
11.	Ole Miss
12.	Cal State Fullerton
13.	Georgia Tech
14.	Oregon State
15.	Oklahoma State
16.	UCLA
17.	Nebraska
18.	Wichita State
19.	Pepperdine
20.	Tulane
21.	NC State
22.	Georgia
23.	Kentucky
24.	Alabama
25.	Winthrop