FSU baseball voted to finish second in the Atlantic division by ACC coaches

On Thursday afternoon, ACC baseball put out the preseason coaches poll for the 2020 season. Florida State is projected to finish second in the Atlantic Division behind the overall favorite, Louisville. The Cardinals got 13/14 first-place votes in the division, as Clemson grabbed the 14th. In the coastal, Miami enters the 2020 season as strong favorites with 12/14 first place-votes. Here are the preseason standings in full:

2020 ACC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

Overall Champion – Louisville

Atlantic

1. Louisville – 97 points, 13 first-place votes

2. Florida State – 79 points

3. NC State – 68 points

T4. Clemson – 52 points, 1 first-place vote

T4. Wake Forest – 52 points

6. Boston College – 27 points

7. Notre Dame – 17 points

Coastal

1. Miami – 93 points, 12 first-place votes

2. North Carolina – 68 points, 1 first-place vote

3. Georgia Tech – 66 points, 1 first-place vote

4. Duke – 65 points

5. Virginia – 55 points

6. Virginia Tech – 27 points

7. Pitt – 18 points

There isn’t much difference from the end of the 2019 season standings to the preseason standings. In the Atlantic, FSU jumped NC State and Boston College jumped Notre Dame for the sixth spot. In the Coastal, Georgia Tech slid from the one to the three spot behind Miami and UNC. The Yellow Jackets still received one first-place vote.

The Seminoles will have both preseason number one seeds at Dick Howser Stadium this season, taking on UM from April 24th-26th before facing Louisville May 1st-May 3rd. FSU will also get both three seeds, NC State and Georgia Tech, at home for weekend series. Notre Dame will also travel to Tallahassee for a weekend series. After going 28-9 at home last season, getting most of the conference’s top contenders at home is huge for Mike Martin Jr. and his team.

The Seminoles will travel to 4-seeds, Clemson, Wake Forrest, and Duke. The ‘Noles will also travel to Mike Bell’s new turf field in Pittsburgh and play at BC’s new stadium for the first time in 2020.

Despite the top five national ranking and heavy favorite in the preseason ranking, FSU could steal the division from the Cards this season. Florida State has not won the Atlantic division since 2014, but FSU hasn’t had a weekend rotation this good since 2014. The Seminoles also have a more favorable ACC schedule than the Cardinals, who will travel to UM, FSU, UNC, and WF. Louisville should be the favorite after winning the division last year, but if FSU’s weekend rotation performs to its ceiling and the ‘Noles perform at home as well as they did last year, they could put a good bit of pressure on the reigning division champs.