For the third year in a row, the 14 head baseball coaches of the Atlantic Coast Conference have selected Louisville as the preseason favorite to win both the league’s Atlantic Division and the ACC championship.
The coaches picked Miami as the favorite to win the Coastal Division.
Louisville received nine votes as the likely overall ACC winner. Miami and Virginia received two votes each, and Florida State had one.
The Hokies were picked by the coaches to finish sixth in the Coastal Division.
In the ACC’s Atlantic Division, the coaches picked NC State to finish second, followed by Florida State, Clemon, Wake Forest, Boston College and Notre Dame.
Louisville received 11 votes as the division favorite while NC State, Florida State and Clemson had one each.
Seven coaches picked Miami to win the Coastal Division while Virginia had five first-place votes and Georgia Tech two.
The coaches picked Virginia to finish second in the Coastal Division, followed by Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Pitt.
Louisville finished 51-18 two years ago while reaching the final bracket of the College World Series and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation when the COVID-19 pandemic halted play early in the 2020 season. The Cardinals are ranked among the top 10 this preseason in five of the six major national polls. Miami and Virginia have also received multiple top-10 rankings.
The ACC has placed at least one team in each of the last 14 College World Series and at least six teams in each of the last 16 NCAA Tournaments.
The 15-game ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 25-30 at a site to be announced in the coming weeks.
Full results of the 2021 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll with the points each team received in the voting and first-place votes in parentheses:
Overall Champion
Louisville
Atlantic Division
- Louisville (11) – 95; 2. NC State (1) – 74 3. Florida State (1) – 73 4. Clemson (1) – 48 5. Wake Forest – 45 6. Boston College – 39 7. Notre Dame – 18
Coastal Division
- Miami (7) – 89 2. Virginia (5) – 85 3. Georgia Tech (2) – 71 4. Duke – 59 5. North Carolina – 40 6. Virginia Tech – 31 7. Pitt – 17