June 25, 2002

The final Division I baseball polls are in and – as expected – Notre Dame (50-18) has claimed its highest final ranking in each of the three major polls. Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball magazine both list the Irish sixth in their final polls while the USA Today / ESPN coaches poll has the Irish seventh. Notre Dame’s previous top rankings in the final polls were 15th by BA (since 1981), 10th according to CB (since ’59) and 14th in the coaches poll (since ’92).

Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 12 of Collegiate Baseball’s final poll each of the past two seasons, a distinction matched by just five other teams (Stanford, Southern California, Nebraska, Florida State and LSU). The Irish also are one of eight teams to be in Baseball America’s final top-15 each of the past two seasons (joining the above five, plus South Carolina and Rice) while the top-15 teams in the last two final coaches polls have included those same eight teams and Clemson.

Notre Dame posted a 99-31-1 combined record during the past two seasons (.760), with only Florida State (107) and South Carolina (106) winning more games over the course of the 2001 and ’02 seasons. Eleven other teams totaled 90-plus wins during the past two seasons, including Rice (99), Stanford (98), Southern (98), Nebraska (97), Oral Roberts (96), Clemson (95), Georgia Tech (93), Tulane (92), Central Florida (92), Wake Forest (91) and East Carolina (90). Of the above 14 teams, only eight – South Carolina, Notre Dame, Stanford, Rice, Nebraska, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Tulane – competed in the 2001 or ’02 College World Series.

No national poll existed when Notre Dame made its only previous trip to the CWS, in 1957.

The top eight teams in the final 2002 polls typically mirrored the CWS finishes, with Texas, South Carolina, Clemson and Stanford finishing 1st-4th (respectively) in all three polls. Georgia Tech was 5th in two polls and 8th by BA while Rice was 5th in the final BA poll, 6th according to the coaches and 7th in the final CB poll. Nebraska was 8th in two of the final polls and 9th according to BA while Florida State – the consensus No. 1 before being upset by the Irish in the NCAA Super Regionals – finished 7th in the BA poll and 9th in the other two polls.

Two opponents from ND’s 2002 regular season finished in the final polls (BA/CB/coaches): Southern California (14/12/14) and Arizona State (22/26/19).Three other 2002 Irish opponents – South Alabama, Ohio State and Florida International – received votes in the final coaches poll.

Notre Dame has been ranked in the final Collegiate Baseball poll 11 times, since the poll’s debut in 1959. ND’s previous high ranking in the final CB poll was 10th in 1959, plus 11th in 1993 and 12th in 2001.

In 22 years of the Baseball America poll (since ’81), ND has been ranked six times in the final poll – led by final rankings of 15th in the 1992 and 2001 BA polls.

The 11-year-old coaches poll (since ’92) has included the Irish in five final polls – with the previous high ranking coming in 1991 (14th, also 15th in 2001).

During each of the past two seasons, ND has been ranked in CB’s final top-12, BA’s final top-15 and the coaches’ poll final top-15 (no previous Irish baseball teams had been ranked as high in back-to-back years).

Here’s a rundown of Notre Dame’s history in the final baseball polls:

Collegiate Baseball magazine (since 1959)
1959 – 10
1960 – 18
1963 – 15
1967 – 24
1970 – 22
1989 – 23
1992 – 14
1993 – 11
1994 – 18
2001 – 12
2002 – 6

Baseball America magazine (since 1981)
1991 – 22
1992 – 15
1993 – 16
1994 – 20
2001 – 15
2002 – 6

USA Today / ESPN Coaches Poll (since 1992)
1992 – 14
1993 – 17
1994 – 17
2001 – 15
2002 – 7

Here’s a yearly rundown of Notre Dame’s final rankings (CB from 1959-89; 1991-2001 incidate CB/BA/coaches):
1959 – 10 … 1960 – 18 … 1963 – 15 … 1967 – 24 … 1970 – 22 … 1989 – 23 …
1991 – x/22/x … 1992 – 14/15/14 … 1993 – 11/16/17 … 1994 – 18/20/17 … 2001 – 12/15/15 … 2002 – 6/6/7