A year after winning the CCAA and West Region titles and advancing to the Division II College World Series, Sonoma State is unranked in Collegiate Baseball’s Preseason Poll.

Surprised? Now consider this: Collegiate Baseball’s poll includes 40 teams, including four from the CCAA in UC San Diego (No. 4), Chico State (No. 7), Cal State Stanislaus (No. 24) and Cal State L.A. (No. 40).

Puzzled, I called SSU coach John Goelz, who not only couldn’t care less about the rankings, he knew exactly why his team wasn’t ranked.

Goelz didn’t return his ranking form, which asked him to detail his team’s outlook in 2009. He said the coaches who say the most good things about their teams usually get the loftiest rankings. Goelz isn’t interested in playing along.

“I want us to earn our ranking,” Goelz said. “I want it to be based on the way we play during the season.”

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