Oct. 16, 2008

NEW YORK - The Baylor men's golf team cracked the latest edition of the Golf World/NIKE Golf Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, debuting at No. 17 Thursday. Baylor is one of seven schools to make their Top 25 debut this week.

The Bears, making their first appearance in Golf World/NIKE Poll since the 2006-07 season, received 212 votes - two behind No. 16 UNLV. BU finished two strokes ahead of the UNLV Rebels earlier this week at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala.

Baylor has won two of its first three tournaments this season, posting victories at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate (Sept. 22-23) and the Hartford Hawks Invitational (Sept. 28-30). The Bears finished fourth overall Tuesday at the Jerry Pate.

Redshirt freshman Lorenzo Scotto (Pordenone, Italy) leads the Bears with a 71.20 stroke average through five rounds. Junior Colton Williams (Jacksboro, Texas) has posted two top-10 finishes and is second on the team with a 71.63 stroke average. At the Jerry Pate, Cody Paladino (Kensington, Conn.) fired back-to-back rounds of 4-under 66 to finished tied for sixth overall (3-under 207) after shooting a 5-over 75 in the opening round.

Heading into this week, the Bears were ranked No. 5 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Baylor is also ranked No. 8, according to Golfstat's rankings.

The Baylor Bears return to action Oct. 27-28 when they host the Baylor Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas. The 12-team field will feature 36 holes on Monday, followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

Golf World/NIKE Golf Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll

Rk	School (First-Place Votes)	Pts	Prv
1.	Oklahoma State (16)	        585	3
2.	USC		        	516	2
3.	Georgia (1)		        512	4
4.	Illinois (5)		        465	NR
5.	Tennessee		        452	11
6.	Alabama		        	404	8
7.	Stanford		        402	5
8.	Clemson		        	380	6
9.	South Carolina		        369	14
10.	Florida		        	346	7
11.	Arizona State		        294	12
12.	Chattanooga		        278	9
13.	UCLA (2)		        267	1
14.	Arkansas		        229	NR
15.	Texas		        	219	18
16.	UNLV		        	214	21
17.	BAYLOR                          212	NR
18.	Georgia Tech	                208	t15
19.	Washington		        156	NR
20.	Indiana		        	151	NR
21.	Florida State		        141	10
22.	Texas A&M		        97	13
23.	California		        96	NR
24.	LSU		        	86	22
25.	Michigan		        72	NR

Others Receiving Votes:> Duke, 65; Mississippi, 65; East Tennessee State, 59; Colorado, 45; N.C. State, 45; Charlotte, 41; Wake Forest, 37; Lamar, 33; Auburn, 31; Michigan State, 27; Ohio State, 25; Texas Tech, 22; Colorado State, 21; Pepperdine, 19; Louisville, 17; Arizona, 15; Augusta State, 15; New Mexico State, 12; Tulsa, 12; UC Davis, 12; Kent State, 9; Kentucky, 9; Mississippi State, 6; New Mexico, 6; North Carolina, 3; UCF, 2; Georgia Southern, 1; San Francisco, 1.

Dropped from Ranking: Auburn (#20), Charlotte (#17), Duke (#T15), East Tennessee State (#19), Kent State (#23), Texas Tech (#24), Wake Forest (#25)