Big 12 Places 5 Players On The Preseason Golden Spikes Watch List

The Big 12 are well represented on the USA Baseball preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List as five baseball student-athletes were nominated.The Golden Spikes Award Watch List highlights the top 50 college baseball players coming into 2012 season.

The Texas Longhorns placed two pitchers on the list as Corey Knebel and Hoby Milner will look to push the Longhorns to a Big 12 championship this Spring. Knebel is currently rated as the No. 2 pitcher in the conference this season.

The Texas A&M Aggies have three players on the watch list. The trio of Tyler Naquin, Ross Stripling and Michael Wacha make the Aggies tied with second-most players in the NCAA.

Its no surprise that the Longhorns and the Aggies are considered the favorites to win the conference, with the Oklahoma Sooners the other team predicted to keep the conference standings close. This will be the final season of Big 12 play for the Aggies as they move over to the SEC in the summer.

The 2012 Big 12 baseball season began on Friday, Feb. 17 and conference play will kick off the weekend of March 16.