DALLAS - For the second time in four weeks, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns baseball program has been listed as one of the best in the nation. The defending 2007 Sun Belt Conference champions have been ranked No. 28 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's 2008 Preseason Division I poll Thursday.

Louisiana, which finished with a 45-17 overall record last season, is the only Sun Belt school listed among the 35 ranked schools, while SBC tournament champion New Orleans was among 33 other schools receiving votes. Three of Louisiana's 2008 opponents (Rice, Southern Miss and LSU) were ranked in the top 35, while six other programs (Louisiana Tech, Nebraska, New Orleans, Oral Roberts, Texas-San Antonio and Tulane) received votes in the poll.

"As I have said before, we appreciate the recognition in the preseason polls and we are humble to be projected to finish high in the rankings," Louisiana head baseball coach Tony Robichaux said. "However, the bottom line still remains that we have to play every game.

"This is great for our fans, season ticket holders and the supporters of our program," Robichaux said, "but we can't be reading the papers. We have to be prepared to take the field to defend the conference championship."

Earlier this month, Ping! Baseball tabbed the Cajuns 17th nationally in its preseason Top 30 poll, while Collegiate Baseball Newspaper selected Louisiana 32nd in its Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll.

Thirteen conferences among the 293 NCAA Division I baseball-playing schools were represented on the preseason poll. The NCBWA poll voters come from 30 college baseball writers and related media persons throughout the nation. After the preseason Top 35 listing, the remainder of the polls will feature a national Top 30. Weekly polls will continue from Feb. 25 through June 30 following the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Louisiana officially starts the 2008 season with its annual Fan Day which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 16 at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. The Ragin' Cajuns open their schedule the following weekend at the UTSA Baseball Classic Feb. 22-24 in San Antonio, Texas.


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