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Vols ranked top 15 in preseason USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll
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- Vols ranked top 15 in preseason USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll
Opening day for Tennessee's baseball season is slated for Feb. 13 versus Nicholls State at Lindsey Nelson Stadium .
The 2026 campaign will be the first for the Vols under head coach Josh Elander . He replaced Tony Vitello who was hired as San Francisco's manager in MLB.
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"I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity here on Rocky Top," Elander said when introduced as Tennessee's head coach . "I'm really happy for our players to continue building on what we've already built here. The hunt continues, and we're still excited. Love this place and these people. So thankful for the best that's yet to come."
Elander was Tennessee's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator from 2022-25, while serving as the Vols' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2018-22 under Vitello.
More: 2026 Tennessee baseball schedule
On Tuesday, the preseason USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll was released. Tennessee is ranked No. 15.
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2026 USA TODAY Sports preseason baseball coaches poll
| Rank |
Team |
Record |
PTS |
1st |
Prev |
Chg |
Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
LSU |
0-0 |
733 |
15 |
NR |
- |
1/1 |
| 2 |
UCLA |
0-0 |
724 |
14 |
NR |
- |
2/2 |
| 3 |
Texas |
0-0 |
635 |
0 |
NR |
- |
3/3 |
| 4 |
Georgia Tech |
0-0 |
596 |
0 |
NR |
- |
4/4 |
| 5 |
Arkansas |
0-0 |
582 |
0 |
NR |
- |
5/5 |
| 6 |
Mississippi State |
0-0 |
574 |
1 |
NR |
- |
6/6 |
| 7 |
Coastal Carolina |
0-0 |
503 |
0 |
NR |
- |
7/7 |
| 8 |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
490 |
0 |
NR |
- |
8/8 |
| 9 |
Auburn |
0-0 |
462 |
0 |
NR |
- |
9/9 |
| 10 |
TCU |
0-0 |
449 |
0 |
NR |
- |
10/10 |
| 11 |
Louisville |
0-0 |
438 |
0 |
NR |
- |
11/11 |
| 12 |
Oregon State |
0-0 |
429 |
0 |
NR |
- |
12/12 |
| 13 |
Georgia |
0-0 |
400 |
0 |
NR |
- |
13/13 |
| 14 |
Florida State |
0-0 |
391 |
0 |
NR |
- |
14/14 |
| 15 |
Tennessee |
0-0 |
384 |
0 |
NR |
- |
15/15 |
| 16 |
Florida |
0-0 |
269 |
0 |
NR |
- |
16/16 |
| 17 |
Clemson |
0-0 |
236 |
0 |
NR |
- |
17/17 |
| 18 |
Vanderbilt |
0-0 |
203 |
0 |
NR |
- |
18/18 |
| 19 |
North Carolina State |
0-0 |
181 |
0 |
NR |
- |
19/19 |
| 20 |
Southern Miss |
0-0 |
154 |
0 |
NR |
- |
20/20 |
| 21 |
Miami (FL) |
0-0 |
140 |
0 |
NR |
- |
21/21 |
| 22 |
Virginia |
0-0 |
101 |
0 |
NR |
- |
22/22 |
| 23 |
Oregon |
0-0 |
100 |
0 |
NR |
- |
23/23 |
| 24 |
Arizona |
0-0 |
98 |
0 |
NR |
- |
24/24 |
| 25 |
Wake Forest |
0-0 |
93 |
0 |
NR |
- |
25/25 |
Others receiving votes
Kentucky 92; Ole Miss 59; West Virginia 42; Texas A&M 38; Oklahoma 28; East Carolina 25; Dallas Baptist 19; UC Irvine 13; Kansas 11; Murray State 7; Arizona State 7; USC 6; UC Santa Barbara 6; Duke 6; Alabama 6; Troy 5; Oklahoma State 5; UTSA 4; Northeastern 2; Nebraska 1; Connecticut 1; Cal State Fullerton 1; Bethune-Cookman 1
List of voters
The USA TODAY Sports board of coaches is made up of 30 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. The board for the 2026 season: Mik Aoki, Richmond; Blake Beemer, Butler; Andrew Checketts, UC-Santa Barbara; Jim Chester, Gardner-Webb; Reggie Christiansen, Sacramento State; Ryan Coe, Kennesaw State; Terry Davis, Western Illinois; Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb; Craig Gibson, Mercer; Justin Haire, Ohio State; Brian Hamm, Yale; Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State; Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State; Randy Hood, UNC Wilmington; Todd Interdonato, Boston College; Omar Johnson, Jackson State; Ed Kahovec, Holy Cross; Ryan Klosterman, Bryant; Geoff Loomis, Portland; Scott Malone, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Matt Mazurek, Canisius; John McCormack, Florida Atlantic; Evan Porter, Nebraska-Omaha; Sherman Reed, Coppin State; Jake Sabol, Central Michigan; Kevin Schnall, Coastal Carolina; Dan Skirka, Murray State; Alex Sogard, Wright State; Stan Stolte, UNLV; Butch Thompson, Auburn.
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: 2026 preseason top 25 ranking for Tennessee baseball
