Georgia and Georgia Tech both start their 2012 baseball seasons this week, and both will begin play ranked in the Top 15 nationally by Baseball America. The Bulldogs are No. 11 nationally, followed by the Yellow Jackets at No. 12.
That's the good news - the bad is that as usual, both the SEC and ACC are absolutely stacked. Despite UGA's ranking, they're still fourth in their own division, behind No. 1 Florida, defending College World Series Champion South Carolina (No. 3) and Vanderbilt (No. 10). All three of those teams made it to Omaha last season.
The Jackets' path is a little less imposing, as they trail on North Carolina (No. 9), but share the Top 25 with four other ACC schools, including Clemson (No. 16), Miami (No. 18) and Florida State (No. 20). The SEC boasts seven teams (No. 4 Arkansas, No. 8 LSU and No. 22 Ole Miss round out the Western Division side), the most of any conference.
Tech will open their season Friday at 2 p.m. in Rock Hill, South Carolina playing Kent State, as part of a opening season tournament also featuring Winthrop. Tech's home opener will be against Ohio State 4 p.m. ET February 24.
Georgia will open at home this Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET hosting Presbyterian.
For more college baseball, check out Dawg Sports and From The Rumble Seat.