SPARTANBURG, S.C.  —  The Southern Conference baseball coaches have selected College of Charleston as the preseason favorite to win the league championship in 2012 while the media representatives who cover the league have chosen Georgia Southern as the conference favorite.

Appalachian State was picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches and to finish sixth by the league's media. The Mountaineers were behind fourth-place Elon in the coaches' poll and behind fifth-place UNC Greensboro in the media poll.

College of Charleston received six of the 11 possible first-place votes and 93 points in the coaches' balloting, narrowly edging Georgia Southern by a single point. Charleston, which finished 39-22 last year and tied for third in the conference at 18-12, returns its entire starting pitching rotation along with all-conference outfielders Daniel Aldrich and Marty Gantt.

Georgia Southern was the clear preseason favorite of the league's media, earning 20 of 25 first-place votes and 269 points overall. The 2011 SoCon Tournament champion Eagles advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. All-America slugger Victor Roache leads the Eagles' hitters while right-hander Chris Beck, last year's tournament Most Outstanding Player, anchors the rotation.

The Cougars and Eagles swapped positions in the respective polls, with the coaches voting GSU second and the media tabbing College of Charleston as league runners-up.

In the coaches' poll, Georgia Southern grabbed 92 points and four first-place votes while Samford placed third with 83 points and the remaining first-place nod. Elon (76 points), the 2011 regular season champion, was selected to finish fourth, followed by Appalachian State (62), Western Carolina (51) and UNCG (50) in the fifth through seventh spots, respectively. The Citadel (33) edged Furman (32) for eighth spot while Wofford (18) and Davidson (15) concluded the rankings.

With 246 points and three first-place tallies, Charleston placed second in the media balloting, directly ahead of Elon (220), which recorded the final two first-place votes. Samford (198), UNCG (150), Appalachian State (149), Western Carolina (130), The Citadel (112), Furman (86), Wofford (55) and Davidson (35) rounded out the poll.