9/5- Illini Golf Receives Votes In Preseson Poll

New York, N.Y. - Illinois mens golf returns all five players who competed at last years NCAA Championship. Illinois, who placed 17th at the NCAA meet, hopes to continue the momentum up the national ladder in 2008-09. The Illini find themselves on the verge of the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches rankings to start the year. Illinois received 75 votes, third in the list of teams also receiving votes, in the pre-season rankings. North Carolina is 25th with 91 votes. Defending national champion UCLA begins the year in the top spot followed by Oklahoma State, Georgia, Southern Cal and Stanford. The Olympia Fields/ Fighting Illini Invitational continues as one of the elite tournaments in the fall. This years tournament, which will be Sept. 19-21, contains three of the top five teams in the pre-season poll - UCLA, Oklahoma State and Stanford. Other ranked team competing include no. 11 Florida State, no. 12 Arizona State, no. 14 Duke, no. 20 Indiana and no. 24 Texas. The field also includes Central Florida, Penn State, Purdue and Northwestern, teams who received votes as well. Illinois opens the season at the Wolf Run Invitational in Zionsville, Ind., on Sept. 13-14. GOLF WORLD/NIKE GOLF COACHES POLL Mens Division I - Preseason Edition RANK TEAM POINTS 08 NCAA 1. UCLA (11) 618 Won 2. Oklahoma St. (4) 592 4th 3. Georgia (6) 585 T-8 4. Southern Cal. (5) 564 3rd 5. Stanford 498 2nd 6. Clemson 481 5th 7. Florida 468 11th 8. Alabama 439 13th 9. Texas A&M 343 12th 10. Georgia Tech 340 DNP 11. Florida St. 335 DNP 12. Arizona St. 334 MC 13. Charlotte 258 T-8 14. Duke 231 DNP 15. Tennessee 217 DNP 16. Auburn 201 MC 17. Kent St. 173 6th 18. East Tennessee St. 168 MC 19. South Carolina 160 DNP 20. Wake Forest 121 MC Indiana 121 MC 22. UNLV 117 DNP 23. San Diego St. 101 14th 24. Texas 95 MC 25. North Carolina 91 DNP Others receiving votes: Chattanooga, 90; Louisville, 86; Illinois, 75; Washington, 74; Middle Tennessee St., 50; Texas Tech, 41; Michigan St., 39; UAB, 39; Arizona, 34; UCF, 32; LSU, 27; Arkansas, 22; N.C. St., 21; Pepperdine, 21; Mississippi, 20; Penn St., 15; UC Irvine, 15; TCU, 12; Augusta St., 11; California, 11; Purdue, 11; Oregon, 10; Northwestern, 8; Coastal Carolina, 6; Virginia Tech, 5; Colorado St., 3; Marquette, 3; SMU, 2; St. Johns, 2; Virginia, 2; Maryland, 1; Memphis, 1; Mississippi St., 1; New Mexico, 1; Notre Dame, 1; Wichita St., 1.