Rivals' Ultimate 2021 SEC Baseball Preview

All 14 SEC teams were scheduled to open the 2021 season this weekend, but Kentucky's series at North Carolina has been canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Wildcats' program.

That could be an issue throughout the season and stadiums across the conference won't be as packed as usual, but baseball is back. To help you get ready for it, Rivals worked together to bring you breakdowns of each team in the best conference in the country.

Links to each preview - which includes a projected roster, weekend rotation and key reserves/bullpen arms - can be found below, as well as the Rivals Preseason Composite Poll, the preseason All-SEC teams, the coaches' preseason predicted order of finish and a list of the biggest non-conference games of the season...

Team Previews

Western Division

Eastern Division

Rivals Preseason Composite Poll

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2021 Rivals Preseason Composite Baseball Poll

Receiving votes: Georgia (20), Auburn (13), Indiana (12), Duke (10), Wake Forest (10), Oklahoma (7), Coastal Carolina (3), Ohio State (3), UCF (3), Dallas Baptist (2), Alabama (1), Clemson (1)

Team	Points	High/Low

1. Florida	150	1/1
2. UCLA	141	2/4
3. Texas Tech	135	3/4
4. Vanderbilt	132	2/6
5. Ole Miss	126	4/6
6. Louisville	119	2/11
7. Mississippi State	106	7/12
8. LSU	97	7/13
9. Miami (FL)	86	6/21
10. Virginia	83	5/16
11. UC-Santa Barbara	79	8/21
12. Arkansas	76	8/22
13. Texas	74	9/22
14. N.C. State	73.5	t-11/17
15. TCU	65.5	10/NR
16. Arizona	62	10/22
t-17. Florida State	39	9/NR
t-17. Georgia Tech	39	15/NR
19. East Carolina	34	13/NR
t-20. South Carolina	30	18/NR
t-20. Tennessee	30	16/NR
22. Oklahoma State	23	17/NR
t-23. Arizona State	22	15/NR
t-23. Michigan	22	18/NR
25. West Virginia	21	14/NR

Coaches' Preseason Preseason All-SEC Teams

First Team

Pos.	Player	Team

C	Casey Opitz	Arkansas
1B	T.J. Collett	Kentucky
2B	Robert Moore	Arkansas
3B	Rankin Woley	Auburn
SS	Ryan Bliss	Auburn
OF	Jud Fabian	Florida
OF	Christian Franklin	Arkansas
OF	Tanner Allen	Mississippi State
DH/UTL	Matt Goodheart	Arkansas
SP	Kumar Rocker	Vanderbilt
SP	Connor Prielipp	Alabama
RP	Devin Fontenot	LSU

Second Team

Pos.	Player	Team

C	Hayden Dunhurst	Ole Miss
1B	Josh Hatcher	Mississippi State
2B	Max Ferguson	Tennessee
3B	Tim Elko	Ole Miss
SS	Josh Rivera	Florida
OF	Rowdey Jordan	Mississippi State
OF	Owen Diodati	Alabama
OF	Cade Beloso	LSU
DH/UTL	Wes Clarke	South Carolina
SP	Jack Leiter	Vanderbilt
SP	Tommy Mace	Florida
RP	Ben Specht	Florida

Coaches' Preseason Predicted Order of Finish

SEC Champion: Florida (12), Mississippi State (1), Vanderbilt (1)

Predicted Order of Finish

West	Votes (1st place)	East	Votes (1st place)

1. Ole Miss	78 (7)	1. Florida	91 (13)
2. Mississippi St.	73 (3)	2. Vanderbilt	79 (1)
3. Arkansas	72 (2)	3. Tennessee	58
4. LSU	63 (2)	4. South Carolina	55
5. Texas A&M	36	5. Georgia	51
6. Auburn	32	6. Missouri	28
7. Alabama	31	7. Kentucky	23

Key Non-Conference Games

Biggest SEC Non-Conference Games of 2021

Date(s)	Game(s)

Feb. 19-21	- State Farm College Baseball Showcase - Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State vs. TCU/Texas/Tech Tech - Miami (Fla.) at Florida
Feb. 20	- Notre Dame at LSU
Feb. 26-28	- Round Rock Classic - Auburn/Texas A&M/Oklahoma/Baylor (round robin) - UCF at Ole Miss - South Carolina vs. Clemson (one home, one road, one neutral site)
March 4-7	- Frisco College Baseball Classic - Missouri vs. Dallas Baptist (x2), Oklahoma, Arizona
March 12-14	- South Carolina at Texas - Vanderbilt at Oklahoma State
March 13	- Baylor at LSU
March 16	- Oklahoma at Arkansas - Florida at Florida State
March 30	- Georgia at Clemson - Missouri at Kansas - Texas at Texas A&M
April 6	- Kentucky at Louisville - South Carolina vs. North Carolina (Charlotte, N.C.)
April 13	- Auburn at Georgia Tech - Florida State at Florida
April 20	- Clemson at Georgia - Louisville at Kentucky
April 27	- Georgia Tech at Georgia - Missouri at Kansas State
May 4	- Vanderbilt at Louisville
May 18	- Georgia at Georgia Tech - Kansas at Missouri