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Cam Maldonado (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
From controversial snubs to tight conference tournament races to stolen bids, it’s often the fringes of the NCAA Tournament field that produce the most excitement late in every season.
Last season, only six non-power conferences earned multiple bids to the tournament, including the Sun Belt, whose four postseason berths outpaced the Big Ten (three).
Here are 10 teams that failed to make last year’s field of 64 but are evaluated by Baseball America as having reasonable shot at changing their postseason fate in 2025. Teams are listed alphabetically.
Arizona State
In three years atop the Arizona State baseball program, head coach Willie Bloomquist has yet to take the team he helped carry to the 1998 national championship as a player back to the NCAA Tournament. It marks the program’s longest postseason drought since its formative years in Division I in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
This year, the Sun Devils have arguably their best chance yet under Bloomquist to snap that streak, as their roster has a handful of early-round draft candidates whose potential could help catapult one of the nation’s most historic programs back into the postseason conversation.
ASU returned all-American outfielder Brandon Compton, starting pitcher Ben Jacobs, outfielder Kien Vu and third baseman Nu’u Contrades, all of whom are capable of earning at least all-conference honors and should be in the top-five-round conversation. The Sun Devils added to that strong core of returners, too. Grambling State all-SWAC second baseman Kyle Walker, who posted career-best slash line of .384/.508/.611 with 11 doubles, 11 home runs and 43 RBIs in 2024, was tabbed the Big 12’s top transfer newcomer by Baseball America. The Sun Devils also added former UTSA infielder Matt King, who demonstrated solid bat-to-ball skills last season while batting .336 with four home runs and 14 doubles, and former Louisiana reliever Jack Martinez, who struck out 50 batters in 45 innings while running his fastball up to 97 mph.
ASU has the talent to be a factor late in the year.
Auburn
The Tigers missed the postseason for just the second time in nine seasons under head coach Butch Thompson and won only eight SEC games, which tied their fewest since conference schedules moved to 30 contests in the early 1990s.
In need of a rapid course correction, Thompson brought in five top 100 transfers and wound up with the No. 4 class, which could be enough to vault them back to competitive status if everyone clicks. The Tigers brought former Florida lefty Cade Fisher, former East Carolina outfielder Bristol Carter, former South Florida middle infielder Eric Snow, former LSU righty Sam Dutton and former Samford catcher Lucas Steele.
Fisher is the perfect example of the kind of improvement Auburn needs from its transfers this season. The junior lefty posted a 7.13 ERA in just over 50 innings in his final season with the Gators in 2024 and felt that a change of scenery could perhaps help him return to the dominance he enjoyed as a true freshman.
If he and others can achieve that trajectory, expect Auburn to be a factor in weekly top 25 rankings and the NCAA Tournament.
Charleston
There was arguably no bigger snub from last year’s tournament field than Charleston, the only team in the nation with 40 or more total wins (41) and a top 50 RPI to get denied. Head coach Chad Holbrook was quite understandably livid—and vocal—about it and then went on to put together a roster that should once again be highly competitive.
After widely pacing the CAA in ERA last year, the Cougars returned weekend starters Jake Brink and Aidan Hunter, who pitched to a 3.69 ERA in a team-high 92.2 innings and 3.76 ERA in 76.2 innings, respectively. Charleston also brought back left fielder Avery Neaves, who hit .338/.475/.715 with 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 44 RBIs and eight stolen bases in his first Division I season last year after transferring from Division III Lynchburg.
Seniors Dariyan Pendergrass and Will Baumhofer also return to the Cougars’ outfield after batting over .300 with double-digit stolen bases.
The Cougars have won the CAA regular season title twice in the last three years but couldn’t cap it off with a conference-tournament victory, which has kept them out of the NCAA postseason since 2015. As has been the case for several years now, Charleston is as much of a contender to make the field as any mid-major program in a one-bid conference.
Illinois State
The Missouri Valley Conference became a bid-stealer last season when Indiana State, a fringe national seed and easily the favorite in the league, fell short in the conference tournament. Evansville capitalized and used its late season magic to reach the super regional round, where it lost to eventual national champion Tennessee.
With Indiana State now a shell of what it was a year ago due to the departure of head coach Mitch Hannahs, who took over at South Florida, the MVC is much less likely to earn multiple bids to the postseason. However, with a weakened Sycamores, the conference could be as wide open as it’s been in years. Illinois State is among the best-positioned to benefit.
Now entering their seventh season under the direction of head coach and former major-league catcher Steve Holm, the Redbirds returned outfielder Daniel Pacella, shortstop Shai Robinson and first baseman Judah Morris, among others, from 2024. Pacella hit 12 home runs and could have even more left in the tank after posting a 107.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and 111.8 max exit velocity.
On the mound, the Redbirds brought back over 80 percent of their innings from a year ago, when they won 16 conference games.
Florida Gulf Coast
Dating back to its promotion to Division I in 2008, which is also when it joined the ASUN, FGCU has posted seven regular-season conference titles, just three losing seasons and produced a number of high-caliber draft selections, including reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale. However, the Eagles have reached the NCAA Tournament just once in that stretch, which almost comes as a surprise considering their nearly unparalleled success in their conference.
The Eagles won the ASUN regular season title again in 2024 but came up short in the conference tournament, losing the league’s only tournament bid to Stetson. They should be right back in the mix to earn it this year, though, as they bring back starting catcher Mac Moise, first baseman Robert Moya, center fielder Harrison Povey and right fielder Evan Dempsey.
FGCU seemingly made its biggest strides on the mound, where it returns righty Justin Henschel and southpaw Chase Kriebel. It rounded out its rotation with Miami transfer Chris Diaz and has plenty of depth in its bullpen.
Head coach Dave Tollett, the only person ever to lead the Eagles’ baseball program, has a great shot to reach the tournament field for the second time in his soon-to-be 23-year tenure.
Northeastern
Baseball America’s final projected field of 64 last year included Northeastern as a No. 3 seed in the Raleigh Regional after the Huskies won 38 games and produced one of their best seasons under head coach Mike Glavine. But, after coming up short in the CAA tournament, they missed out on a third postseason appearance in four years, which would have marked their best stretch of that length in team history.
The Huskies have produced winning percentages of at least .630 in five of their last seven seasons and this year put together a roster with plenty of returning talent, including outfielder Cam Maldonado.
Maldonado last season batted .265/.411/.469 with six doubles and eight home runs, a very respectable line, considering the buzzy sophomore carried a sub-.200 batting average into May.
Northeastern has the weapons to contend for a CAA title just like Charleston. The conference certainly has end-of-year firework potential.
Stanford
After six-straight postseason appearances, including three-consecutive trips to Omaha from 2021-23, the Cardinal won just 22 games in 2024, as youth got the best of them. That young roster had plenty of talent, though, and most of it is back in the fold for head coach David Esquer, who also added Japanese slugger Rintaro Sasaki to the mix.
Third baseman Temo Becerra, outfielder Cort MacDonald and shortstop Trevor Haskins, all of whom were starters for the Cardinal last year, returned for 2025. On the mound, the Cardinal brought back righties Matt Scott and Joey Volchko, as well as lefty Christian Lim.
Stanford’s pitching should have enough depth and stuff to consistently compete in in the ACC but there remain significant questions about the group’s offense with underclassmen projected to fill several starting spots.
Stanford hasn’t missed back-to-back tournaments since 2015-16.
TCU
The Horned Frogs missed the tournament entirely last season after reaching Omaha the year before. However, they’ve put themselves on a nice trajectory to bounce back in 2025, as fourth-year head coach Kirk Saarloos was able to retool his lineup with an infusion of transfer talent while retaining production on the mound and supplementing that group with freshmen and transfers, too.
The Horned Frogs’ biggest portal pull this offseason was former Wichita State righty Tommy LaPour, who could start or close this year with electric stuff.
TCU also returns lefty Ben Abeldt, who was named Baseball America’s Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year this offseason after back-to-back masterful seasons from the Horned Frogs bullpen, Abeldt has pitched to a 2.81 ERA with 10 saves, 125 strikeouts and just 40 walks over 99.1 innings since the start of the 2023 campaign. Those marks include a career-best season as the Horned Frogs’ closer in 2024 in which he posted a sterling 1.83 ERA with eight saves, 54 strikeouts and 16 walks in 44.1 innings while holding opponents to a career-low 5.9 hits per nine innings.
It appears that Abeldt will try his hand at starting games this season, an experiment that at least seems positioned to go well seeing as he’s familiar with the Big 12 and has dominated over 58 appearances.
Between Abeldt, LaPour and a lineup that the Horned Frogs are confident in, this team could quickly catch fire and be a factor in the rankings throughout the season.
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders snapped a seven-year postseason streak in 2024 when they experienced a lull in their otherwise very steady success, as their 33-26 overall record and 12-17 mark in conference play was their third and second-worst showings in 12 years under head coach Tim Tadlock.
Texas Tech had no trouble scoring in 2024 and though it lost several key players from that group, including star first baseman Gavin Kash, who transferred to Texas A&M, it also returned several productive players such as outfielder Damian Bravo, who batted .378 last season with 21 doubles.
The Red Raiders were much less reliable on the mound, where they’ll need to take a reasonably sizable step forward this year to find their way back into the postseason.
Texas Tech doesn’t necessarily jump off the page this year, but we’re leaning on Tadlock’s reputation here a little bit and giving the Red Raiders a nod as a postseason hopeful to keep tabs on as a result.
Troy
The Trojans won 37 total games and 18 in conference action but couldn’t secure one of the four tournament spots that went to Sun Belt teams. Fourth-year coach Skylar Meade brought in a large group of transfers who add experience to Troy’s roster and position it nicely for a second postseason trip in a three-year stretch.
Troy returned catcher Brooks Bryan, who slugged 18 home runs last season, as well as righthanders Garrett Gainous and Luke Lyon, who combined to start 25 games for the Trojans last year.
It’s Meade’s work in the transfer portal that will make or break this squad, though. The Trojans notable portal additions include Western Kentucky first baseman Blake Cavill, Old Dominion center fielder Steven Meier, Niagara right fielder Gavin Schrader and Bradley righty Noah Edders.
Though the unit is older, Troy’s pitching remains a question mark heading into the season. If it performs well, the Trojans could compete in the NCAA tournament once again.
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