The LSU baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll released Monday, marking the Tigers’ first preseason No. 1 ranking since 1996.Before even starting his third season coaching at LSU, Paul Mainieri said he’s excited about what he considers “a wonderful statement about where [LSU is] as a program.””As long as I’m up here, it’s always going to be the goal of our team is to have the best baseball team in the country — even though this is a very subjective thing,” he said. “We haven’t earned this on the field, but it’s nice to know that there’s some people out there that agree with me and our players.”LSU edged out North Carolina, 495 points to 494, for the top spot after the Tar Heels defeated the Tigers twice in the 2008 College World Series.Senior outfielder Nicholas Pontiff said the ranking is a reward for hard work the Tigers put in during the fall.”It’s an honor,” Pontiff said. “Whenever you’re on a No. 1 team, it’s a testament to how hard guys have worked in the fall and a testament to the returnees and the new guys coming in, so we’re excited about it, but we take it with a grain of salt because don’t really matter until you get into play and you see how your team’s really going to do.”The ranking comes on the heels of the Tigers’ first College World Series trip since 2004. The Tigers also won their first CWS game since 2000 with a come-from-behind, 6-5 victory against Rice.Mainieri, who coached Notre Dame to the top of the polls during the 2001 season, said LSU’s run to Omaha could help the Tigers navigate their way back this season. “Experience is something you just can’t buy,” Mainieri said. “It’s nice to have some experience. Last year when we were going through the year and going to Omaha, it was all new stuff to all those players. Now that they’ve been through it, they have a better idea of what to expect.”Pontiff said the College World Series trip could also have a big effect on future LSU teams.”It’s a tremendous advantage,” he said. “When you go to Omaha and you bring back a bunch of guys who know what it takes to get there and have put in the hard work and the effort to get there, you start a tradition. That’s what they did in the ‘90s. They started a tradition, and that’s hopefully what our class and class after us is trying to do is set the mold that LSU is back at the top.”The Tigers made eight CWS trips from 1990-2000, including five national titles.While fans may already be hoping last year’s experience will help the Tigers down the road if they can return to Omaha, Mainieri said the experience could come into play earlier than fans realize as the Tigers prepare for a tough schedule.”Before we can even think about Omaha or regionals or super regionals, we’ve got our work cut out for us with our regular season schedule,” Mainieri said. “You don’t have to look too far down that poll to find out teams that we’re going to be playing this season. It’s going to be a tough schedule, and we’re going to have a lot of challenges ahead of us.”The Tigers open Southeastern Conference play against No. 19 Kentucky on March 13, 2009. Other SEC opponents ranked in the preseason poll include No. 4 Georgia, No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 25 Florida and No. 40 Alabama.The Tigers will also face No. 34 Tulane twice this season.Mainieri said he doesn’t expect the honor to lead to any complacency or cockiness in his players.”Our players know that these polls are nothing more than just subjective opinions and that everything that you get in this game you have to earn out on the field,” he said. “It’s a great thing for the recognition and for people to talk about. Hopefully it will create a lot of excitement not only around the start of our new season but also our new ballpark. But the players will have plenty of time to digest it and put it in its proper perspective.”The Tigers open play in the new Alex Box Stadium this season after several winning seasons in the old Alex Box Stadium, which opened in 1938. Mainieiri has already announced senior pitcher Louis Coleman will start the Tigers’ first game in the new stadium when LSU opens play against Villanova on Feb. 20, 2009.Pontiff said playing for a program with tradition like LSU’s helps players stay focused even in the face of lofty expectations.”We’ve got a bunch of mature players, including our freshmen and our sophomores,” Pontiff said. “One thing you learn when you’re at LSU is you can never let your guard down. It doesn’t matter what you’re ranked. You can get beat by a team that isn’t even ranked on any day of the week.”