Another preseason poll, another high ranking for the Tennessee baseball team.

The Vols, who open the 2023 season against Arizona in the MLB Desert Invitational two weeks from Friday, debuted at No. 2 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll on Thursday.

Tennessee received six first place votes while LSU, the No. 1 team, had 23 votes.

The SEC had five teams in the top 10 with Texas A&M (4), Florida (5), Arkansas (6), defending national champion Ole Miss (8) and Vanderbilt (10) also making the cut and reflecting the strength of the conference.

Tennessee will face all six of those teams – including an already highly anticipated three-game series at LSU beginning March 30.

The Vols finished 57-9 overall and 25-5 in conference play, winning both the SEC regular season and tournament titles before falling to Notre Dame one game short of the College World Series in Omaha.

Tennessee has made the top-five of several college baseball publications. The Vols have been picked No. 2 by D1Baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America, NCBWA, College Baseball Foundation and College Baseball Nation.

College Baseball Newspaper had the Vols at No. 5.

The preseason hype is warranted. The Vols are set to return a deep and experienced pitching staff which includes All-American Chase Dollander, as well as Chase Burns, Drew Beam and Camden Sewell.

Tennessee and Arizona will meet on February 17 in Scottsdale, Arizona at 8 p.m. ET. The Vols will follow that game up against Grand Canyon in Phoenix on February 18 and UC San Diego in Mesa on February 19. The games will air on the MLB Network and MLB.com.

The Vols' home opener against Alabama A&M is set for February 21 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

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