LSU and South Carolina will open play new baseball stadiums this weekend, and Ole Miss will unveil their massive renovation that will bring capacity to over 10,000 next week. Below are photo gallery links for each school:
LSU: New Alex Box Stadium USC: Carolina Stadium Ole Miss: Oxford-University Stadium Renovation
SEC STANDINGS
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
February 20 (Friday) Southeast Missouri at Alabama 6:30 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Washington State at Arkansas 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Elon at Auburn 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Louisville at Florida 6:30 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Youngstown State at Georgia 5 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS 2-Kentucky vs. Troy 1 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Villanova at LSU [CST] 7 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS 3-Ole Miss vs. Liberty 1 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Northern Illinois at Mississippi State 5 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Oregon State at Tennessee 4 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Vanderbilt at Stanford 7:30 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS
February 21 (Saturday) Southeast Missouri at Alabama 4 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Washington State at Arkansas 1 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Elon at Auburn 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Louisville at Florida 1 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Youngstown State at Georgia 2 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS 2-Kentucky vs. James Madison Noon ET | LIVE STATS 2-Kentucky at Coastal Carolina 3:30 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Villanova at LSU 2 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS 3-Ole Miss vs. Mercer 2:30 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS North Florida at Mississippi State Noon CT | LIVE STATS Northern Illinois at Mississippi State 4 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Duquesne at South Carolina 2 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Oregon State at Tennessee 2 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Vanderbilt at Stanford 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS
February 22 (Sunday) Southeast Missouri at Alabama 2 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Washington State at Arkansas 11 a.m. CT | LIVE STATS Elon at Auburn 1 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Louisville at Florida Noon ET | LIVE STATS Youngstown State at Georgia 2 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS 2-Kentucky at Coastal Carolina Noon ET | LIVE STATS Villanova at LSU Noon CT | LIVE STATS 3-Ole Miss at South Alabama 1:30 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS North Florida at Mississippi State 2:30 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS Duquesne at South Carolina 2 p.m. ET | LIVE STATS Oregon State at Tennessee Noon ET | LIVE STATS Vanderbilt at California 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS
February 23 (Monday) Duquesne at South Carolina Noon ET | LIVE STATS Vanderbilt at California 3 p.m. CT | LIVE STATS
2-Coastal Carolina Tournament - (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) 3-South Alabama Tournament - (Mobile, Ala.)
All Times Local to Game Site Unless Noted
FSN - FS South, Sun Sports, FS Southwest SS - SportSouth CSS - Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast SUN - Sun Sports CST - Cox Sports Television BBSN - Big Blue Sports Network (via FS South)
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
ALABAMA Crimson Tide Alabama opens its 117th season of intercollegiate baseball this weekend as the Crimson Tide hosts the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks in a three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The 2009 season opener is set for Friday, Feb. 20 at 6:35 p.m. (CST). The teams will also play single games on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 4:05 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:05 p.m. to open the college baseball season. Coach Jim Wells begins his 15th season at Alabama and his 20th overall as a Division I head coach. He has compiled a 588-300 (.662) record in 888 games since being named UA's 29th head coach on June 4, 1995. A 2009 Alabama Baseball Coaches Association (AlaBCA) Hall of Fame inductee, Wells is the winningest coach in Crimson Tide baseball lore. Overall, Wells has compiled a 783-389 (.669) record in 1,172 games in 20 seasons at the Division I level. Prior to Alabama, he spent five years at Northwestern (La.) State, where he compiled a 192-89 (.683) record and led the Demons to three Southland Conference championships and two NCAA Regional appearances. Alabama enters the season ranked in three of the four preseason polls. The Crimson Tide is ranked 16th in the Rivals.com Top 25, its highest preseason ranking. Alabama is also ranked 21st by Baseball America and 40th by Collegiate Baseball. Alabama has three preseason All-Americans entering the 2009 season.
ARKANSAS Razorbacks The 2009 Arkansas baseball season promises to be one of excitement in, and around, the friendly confines of Baum Stadium. A veteran team with a dynamic recruiting class faces one of the toughest schedules in the country this spring, beginning with Washington State on February 20 at 3:05 p.m. The Razorback schedule includes: 37 home games against four teams that are ranked among the nation's pre-season top 25, 15 against Southeastern Conference opponents, eight against the Pac 10 and five versus the Big 12. SEBaseball.com rated the Hogs schedule as the best in the SEC. SEBaseball paid particular attention to the strength of Arkansas' mid-week contests which include two-game sets with Kansas, Nebraska and Arizona State to name a few. The off-season accolades didn't end with Arkansas' schedule. Rivals.com pronounced Baum Stadium as the best stadium in the country in October. The Rivals story mentioned the atmosphere at Baum as well as its amenities as main factors for its choice. A top notch schedule and great facility are instrumental to bringing the fans to the ballpark, but it takes baseball players to produce wins and make a run in the postseason. Fortunately for the Razorbacks, a solid group of returnees was joined by a unanimous top 10 recruiting class, which should keep those in attendance happy throughout the season.
AUBURN Tigers The John Pawlowski era of Auburn baseball begins on Friday vs. Elon at 3pm CT ... Pawlowski spent the last nine years at the College of Charleston where he compiled a 338-192-1 (.637) record ... : Auburn returns 12 players that had at least one at-bat last season, including the top three hitters off of last year's team in Hunter Morris (.351/11 HR/49 RBI), Joesph Sanders (.348/6/52) and Brian Fletcher (.324/10/42) ... Combined the 12 returnees had a .300 batting average in 2008 and drove in 248 (out of 346) runs ... Auburn also returns 10 pitchers that made at least one appearance last season ... The 10 pitchers combined to throw 355.1 innings and had a 5.32 ERA ... Included in that group is sophomore left hander Cory Luckie (4-4, 4.38 ERA), who has undergone surgery on his throwing arm and will miss the 2009 season ... Senior catcher Ryan Jenkins will miss the start of the season after fracturing his right hand in a preseason scrimmage ... The tri-captain had surgery on Tuesday, Feb. 17th ... Auburn is 45-15 in season openers since 1949 ... Pawlowski's teams are 13-5 all-time against Elon as the two schools played against each other in the Southern Conference for the past five seasons.
FLORIDA Gators Kevin O'Sullivan will begin his second season at the helm this weekend as Florida opens its 2009 campaign by hosting Big East Conference favorite Louisville in a weekend series...The Gators will be starting their 56-game regular season at McKethan Stadium for the ninth-consecutive season and the 21st time in 23 years...In his debut as a collegiate head coach, O'Sullivan guided UF to a 34-24 overall mark for the squad's first winning season since 2005 (48-23)...In addition, the Gators returned to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence, were the runner-up in the SEC's Eastern Division and finished third in the league overall after being picked 11th...Despite the loss of starting shortstop Cole Figueroa, who signed professionally with the San Diego Padres, UF returns six position starters, highlighted by 2008 All-SEC recipients Josh Adams (3B), Avery Barnes (LF) and Matt den Dekker (CF)...Senior RHP Patrick Keating, who went 8-1 last year with a 4.16 ERA and garnered first-team All-South Region and first-team All-SEC accolades, will draw the start on opening night...Freshmen left-handers Alex Panteliodis and Nick Maronde will pitch Saturday and Sunday, respectively...The last UF rookie left-hander to make his starting debut against a ranked opponent was Stephen Porter at No. 2 Miami on Valentine's Day in 2004...UF sports a 53-40-1 (.569) record in its previous 94 opening day contests, including a 33-20-1 (.620) record at home...The Gators have claimed 20 of their last 26 lid-lifters and 14 of their last 17 season debuts in Gainesville...UF has started the year on its own turf in 11 of the past 12 seasons, with the lone exception a 12-6 victory at Hawaii on Jan. 20, 2000
GEORGIA Bulldogs Georgia begins its 122nd baseball season with a three-game series against Youngstown State at Foley Field. The Bulldogs are coming off a runner-up finish in the College World Series last season and return 18 lettermen off the 2008 SEC Championship squad that posted a 45-25-1 record and a consensus number two final ranking in the national polls. It was Georgia's third trip to Omaha in five years. In addition to four returning lettermen, Georgia's probable starting lineup on opening day features five true freshmen: Colby May (Guyton, Ga.) at third, Levi Hyams (Stafford, Va.) at second, Johnathan Taylor in left (Acworth, Ga.), Zach Cone in center (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Chase Davidson (Alpharetta, Ga.) in right. Five true freshman in the opening day starting lineup would be the most in the David Perno era. Georgia started four true freshmen (Joey Lewis, Matt Cerione, Mike Freeman and Luke Stewart) in the 2007 opener. The Bulldogs' probable lineup also includes junior Rich Poythress at first, junior Michael Demperio at shortstop, senior Bryce Massanari at catcher and junior Joey Lewis as the DH. Georgia's starting rotation will feature senior Trevor Holder, junior Alex McRee and sophomore Justin Grimm. The Bulldogs are looking for their first season opening series win since sweeping UNC-Greensboro to start the 2006 season. Georgia downed No. 1 Arizona in the first game of the 2008 season, but the Wildcats won games two and three to take the series. Fifteenth-ranked Oregon State earned a season-opening sweep over the Bulldogs in 2007.
KENTUCKY Wildcats After posting a school-record 122 wins the last three seasons, the No. 19 Kentucky baseball team opens its 105th season with the Caravelle Resort Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C., hosted by No. 22 Coastal Carolina. Kentucky opens with the preseason pick to win the Sun Belt, Troy, Friday at 1 p.m. ET, before facing James Madison Saturday at Noon and Coastal Carolina at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the Wildcats wrap up with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Noon. All games will be broadcast live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Dick Gabriel on the call. Fans in Lexington can catch the action on WGVN 1580-AM. The Wildcats are under the direction of first-year head coach Gary Henderson, in his sixth year with the program after spending the previous five seasons as the pitching and associate head coach. One of the top assistants in the nation, Henderson directed a pitching staff in 2008 that led the Southeastern Conference with a 3.71 ERA, and after being announced as UK's 25th head coach during the second day of the 2008 MLB Draft in June, solidified UK's fourth-ranked recruiting class, a program best and major coup in college baseball recruiting circles. The Wildcats have been nearly unbeatable in non-conference, regular-season games during its last three seasons, running up a 71-7 record, including a 28-1 record in 2008. UK has also specialized in hot starts, rolling to a 19-0 record to begin the last two seasons. A year ago, UK posted a school-record 44 wins and advanced to the final round of the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional, falling to No. 12 Arizona after eliminating host and No. 11 Michigan. UK lost a good chunk of its roster from 2008, including first-team All-America outfielders Sawyer Carroll and Collin Cowgill, along with some of the best pitchers in program annals, including Andrew Albers, Brock Baber, Greg Dombrowski and Aaron Lovett.
LSU Tigers LSU received more recognition as one of the top baseball programs in the country Friday, as the Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the 2009 USA Today/ESPN coaches' preseason poll. The USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. LSU was also ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball magazine preseason poll released last month. The Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the NCBWA and Baseball America preseason polls. LSU is No. 1 in a preseason poll for the first time since 1996, when the Tigers began the year at the top of the Baseball America rankings. LSU advanced to the CWS last season, finishing the year with a 49-19-1 mark. The Tigers posted an SEC-record 23-game win streak from April 22-June 1 and captured the SEC Western Division and SEC Tournament titles. LSU returns 25 players who were significant contributors to the 2008 squad, including five who have received 2009 preseason All-America recognition -- outfielder Blake Dean, pitcher Louis Coleman, second baseman Ryan Schimpf, shortstop DJ LeMahieu and catcher Micah Gibbs. The '09 Tigers are presently engaged in individual workouts and conditioning drills at the original Alex Box Stadium. The first full-squad practice is scheduled for Sunday, February 1. The Tigers open the 2009 season at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 20 when they play host to Villanova in the New Alex Box Stadium.
OLE MISS Rebels Ole Miss opens the 2009 season at the Coca Cola Classic hosted by South Alabama in Mobile this weekend. It is the first time the Rebels have opened the season on the road since the 1999 season when Ole Miss traveled to Baylor. The Rebels will face Liberty at 1 p.m. on Friday before facing Mercer at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and host South Alabama at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Taking the mound for the Rebels this weekend will be a pair of newcomers with junior RHP Aaron Barrett drawing the start against the Liberty Flames and junior RHP Chris Corrigan taking the mound against Mercer. Junior RHP Phillip Irwin will make his first weekend start of his career against South Alabama on Sunday. The Rebels enter the season ranked as high as sixth nationally (Baseball America) and return 7-of-9 starters from last season. Senior reliever Scott Bittle is the top pitcher returning for the Rebels and has garnered preseason All-America honors from several organizations and has been named to the preseason watch lists for the Golden Spikes Award, Brooks Wallace Award and the Stopper of the Year.
MISSISSIPPI STATE Bulldogs Mississippi State opens its 119th season of baseball and ushers in the John Cohen coaching era at Mississippi State this weekend when the Bulldogs play host to the University of North Florida and Northern Illinois University in the BankFirst Baseball Challenge at Dudy Noble Field. Sunny weather is anticipated for the three-day, double round-robin event. MSU plays its first nine games and 14 of its first 18 at Dudy Noble Field ... Cohen is the 16th head baseball coach in State's colorful baseball history. He steps into the shoes of his college coach, legendary MSU skipper Ron Polk, who retired following the 2008 campaign as the winningest coach in any sport in the history of the Southeastern Conference ... Cohen earned All-SEC honors as an outfielder during his three-year career (1987-90) at State and returned to MSU in June 2008 after having served as head coach at Northwestern State (1998-2001) and the past five seasons at Kentucky (2004-2008). One of three SEC coaches coaching at his alma mater, Cohen is among 22 collegiate head coaches that have played in the College World Series ... State returns 20 lettermen and all but one starting position player in 2009 ... MSU is enjoying a banner year at the ticket office in advance of the 2009 campaign. With sales continuing, the MSU Athletic Ticket Office reports the sale of 5,340 baseball season tickets, the fifth-most in school history. State fans purchased a school-record 5,596 season tickets in 2002.
SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks The 2009 season begins this weekend as South Carolina opens Carolina Stadium with a three-game series vs. Duquesne ... First pitch for the opener is 2 p.m. with Sunday's contest also at 2 p.m. and the Monday series finale scheduled for Noon ... The inaugural game at Carolina's new facility is sold out ... Carolina Stadium is a 8,242 capacity facility ... The facility includes coaches' offices, an indoor hitting/pitching area, a 4,000 square-foot weight room, suite and club seating and a state-of-the-art scoreboard and sound system ... Head coach Ray Tanner is in his 13th season at the helm of the Gamecock baseball program ... Coach Tanner is 540-223 (.694) at Carolina ... His winning percentage is second best in SEC history ... He has guided Carolina to 10 NCAA Regional appearances including nine straight from 2000-08, the longest current streak among the 12 SEC schools ... In addition, South Carolina has made seven NCAA Super Regional appearances as well as three trips to the College World Series ... Carolina was the National Runner-Up in 2002 and also reached Omaha in 2003 and 2004... The Gamecocks find themselves in a different position to begin the season as none of the four major collegiate baseball polls have the team ranked to start of the year ... It is the first time Carolina has not been preseason ranked since 1997, head coach Ray Tanner's first year ... South Carolina was selected to finish in fourth place in the Eastern Division in the 2009 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released on Monday, Feb. 16 ... Carolina has finished in the upper half of the SEC Eastern Division 12 of 17 seasons since joining the league including nine of 12 years under head coach Ray Tanner ... South Carolina sophomore RHP Sam Dyson is scheduled to get the Opening Day start for the Gamecocks ... Dyson is a 2009 Preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball ... A third-team choice, Dyson posted an 8-0 record in his freshman season for the Gamecocks including a win in the 2008 NCAA (Raleigh) Regional vs. Charlotte
TENNESSEE Volunteers Tennessee opens its 100th season of varsity baseball with a three-game home series against Oregon State...The series officially marks the second year for head coach Todd Raleigh who was hired in June 2007 after eight seasons at his alma mater, Western Carolina...Raleigh is Tennessee's 23rd head coach all-time...Former Vol Phil Garner had his No. 18 retired by the Tennessee Baseball program at the 17th Annual Leadoff Banquet Feb. 19...The Volunteers return 19 players from a season ago (17 letterwinners) and welcome 16 newcomers to Knoxville...UT's pitching staff returns more that 90 percent of its inning pitched from 2008...Junior left-hander Nick Hernandez threw 83.2 innings last year to lead all returners...Sophomore outfielder Kentrail Davis became just the ninth Vol in school history to win the team triple crown in 2008 leading the team in average (.330), home runs (13) and RBI (44)...The left side of Tennessee's infield could feature newcomers Tyler Horne (3B) and Zach Osborne (SS)...Initial weekend weather forcasts call for temperatures that will reach into the mid-30s to upper-40s with a 40% chance of rain/snow on Saturday and a 10 percent chance on Sunday.
VANDERBILT Commodores Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships, SEC Coach of the Year, three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, a No. 1 national ranking, 36 players drafted and two players selected in the top two of the draft. The list of accomplishments would read like a career resume for most, but for Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin, the achievements are a snapshot of his past three seasons alone. To say Vanderbilt's baseball program has arrived would be an understatement. However, before the Commodores can advance to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, they must overcome the loss of virtually their entire offense from last season. Gone from last year's squad that finished 41-22 overall and 15-14 in the SEC are 73.8 percent of the team's runs scored, 68.5 percent of its RBI and 69.2 percent of its hits. The majority of that production came from the likes of Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty, Alex Feinberg, David Macias, Dominic de la Osa and Shea Robin, who have all either graduated or moved on to the minor leagues. Showing just how far Vanderbilt has come as a baseball program, Alvarez's selection to the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 2 overall, gave Vanderbilt the distinction of being the only school -- high school or college -- to have players picked either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in consecutive MLB Drafts since Major League Baseball began having just one draft per year in 1987. David Price was selected No. 1 overall in 2007. The 2009 team will not only have to overcome the loss in production of players such as Alvarez, it must also replace the leadership the group provided. A good portion of that leadership may come from the pitching staff, which will be the most experienced group on the team.
SECond TO NONE
In the past 19 years, the Southeastern Conference has been arguably the top college baseball conference in the nation. Consider:
SEC IN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Since 1990, the Southeastern Conference has been the most successful baseball conference in the country. The SEC has won six of the last 19 NCAA titles (1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000), finished runner-up four times and has put more teams in the College World Series than any conference in the country. Take a look at the SEC's success in the last 19 years:
CONFERENCE RECORDS IN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Since 1990 (Using current conference alignments)
Conference App. Games W-L Pct. SEC 36 129 66-63 .512 Pacific 10 26 97 54-43 .557 Big 12 23 67 30-37 .448 Atlantic Coast 21 69 27-32 .458 Big West 15 55 30-25 .545 Independents 10 36 21-15 .583 Missouri Valley 6 18 8-10 .444 Western Ath. 6 23 12-11 .522 C-USA 5 15 5-10 .333 Big East 2 6 2-4 .333 Southern 2 5 1-4 .200 Sun Belt 1 4 2-2 .500 West Coast 1 4 4-0 1.000
SEC FIRST ROUND MAJOR LEAGUE PICKS
Eight SEC players were taken in the first round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, held Tuesday in New York City, including the second pick overall. Vanderbilt's Pedro Alvarez was the second overall pick of the draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vanderbilt's David Price was the first overall pick in 2007, while Luke Hochevar of Tennessee was first overall in 2006. Georgia's Gordon Beckham was taken eighth in 2008 with Justin Smoak of South Carolina at No. 11. With those eight selections this year, the SEC has now had a first round selection in each year since 1991 and 76 total in the first round during that time.
THE TIES THAT BIND
With the hiring of John Cohen at Mississippi State in the summer of 2008, there are now three SEC head coaches (David Perno-Georgia; Dave Van Horn-Arkansas) who played at and now are the head coach at their alma mater. Two other head coaches are former SEC players as well: Ole Miss' Mike Bianco (played at LSU) and LSU's Paul Mainieri (played one season at LSU).
PRESEASON POLL RESULTS
( ) - First Place Votes
SEC Champion: LSU (10); Georgia (1); Ole Miss (1)
SEC BEGINS 75TH SEASON OF CONFERENCE PLAY
This marks the 75th season of conference play in the SEC. In 1933, baseball became one of the first sports in which the SEC crowned a champion. The league did not sponsor teams in 1945 and 1946 due to World War II.
The SEC standings below include all regular-season games from 1933-2007, with SEC Tournament games counting in 1993 and 1994.
All-Time SEC Standings
Team Years Games Won Lost Tied Pct. Florida 72 1381 821 558 2 .595 Alabama 74 1498 844 651 3 .564 Miss. State 74 1453 797 655 1 .549 S. Carolina 17 483 264 218 1 .548 LSU 74 1464 797 665 5 .546 Auburn 74 1433 768 665 3 .537 Arkansas 17 484 240 244 0 .496 Tennessee 66 1325 635 689 1 .480 Georgia 74 1438 684 752 2 .476 Ole Miss 74 1415 671 742 2 .475 Kentucky 69 1381 585 788 8 .427 Vanderbilt 62 1296 489 798 9 .381
All-Time Records
Team Years Games Won Lost Tied Pct. Miss. State 118 3612 2280 1304 28 .635 Alabama 115 3670 2293 1354 23 .628 S. Carolina 117 3541 2170 1354 17 .615 Arkansas 86 2951 1791 1154 6 .608 Auburn 74 2850 1717 1127 6 .604 Florida 94 3483 2088 1371 24 .603 LSU 113 3527 2106 1398 23 .600 Georgia 121 3469 1978 1468 23 .574 Ole Miss 108 3157 1791 1346 20 .570 Tennessee 99 3099 1759 1326 14 .570 Vanderbilt 110 3429 1855 1542 32 .546 Kentucky 98 2990 1613 1352 25 .544
2008 SEC ATTENDANCE LEADERS Final
Year after year, the SEC continues to be the benchmark in college baseball attendance. The SEC and its member schools own virtually all regular season, conference tournament, NCAA Regional and Super Regional attendance records. The SEC and one of its institutions have led the NCAA in total and average attendance for the last 12 seasons in a row, and 17 of the last 23 years. In 2005, the SEC set a goal to reach the 1.5 million attendance mark for the first time in league history and came within 10,000 fans of reaching that goal. The drive was renewed and continued for the 2006 season, a season which saw over 1.6 million fans at SEC ballparks. In 2007, the SEC drew nearly 1.7 million and averaged for 4,000 per game for first time in history.
*Some teams have played doubleheaders at various points of the season, giving them less home dates than they have played actual home games.
TOP HOME CROWDS OF 2008
TOP NEUTRAL SITE CROWDS OF 2008