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Preseason College Baseball Rankings: UCLA Ranked No. 14 By Baseball America

UCLA won the Pac-12 conference in 2011, its first outright conference title since 1986.

By Eric Stephen
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The UCLA Bruins may have lost starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the 2011 MLB Draft respectively, but the Bruins still have a strong college baseball team heading into the 2012 season. Baseball America has released its preseason college baseball rankings, and UCLA is ranked No. 14 heading into 2012.

The Bruins ended last season ranked No. 22, and won their first outright Pac-12 title in 25 years. The pitching staff figures to be lead by sophomores Adam Plutko, Zack Weiss, and Nick Vander Tuig, as well as junior Scott Griggs, and the lineup will feature the return of six starting position players.

Here is the preseason top 10:

  1. Florida
  2. Stanford
  3. South Carolina
  4. Arkansas
  5. Arizona
  6. Rice
  7. Texas A&M
  8. LSU
  9. North Carolina
  10. Vanderbilt

UCLA is the third highest ranked team in the Pac-12 Conference, behind No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 Arizona. Arizona State (No. 17) and Oregon State (No. 23) give the conference five teams ranked in the top 25. UCLA opens their season on February 17 with a home series against Maryland at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

For more news and information on UCLA baseball, be sure to read Bruins Nation.