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(Photo by Eddie Kelly)
At first, the coach was hesitant to answer the question, but not because he didn’t want to pick against his own team.
Instead, the high-major skipper said he struggled to come up with a response to who the best team in the nation was because there were simply “too many good options,” including his own.
“I really mean this,” he said, “college baseball has never been so good.”
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It’s perhaps the most prevalent sentiment across the sport heading into 2025, even with some of the looming uncertainties that simultaneously face it. The talent, many coaches say, is undeniable.
In the last two years, 50 Division I alumni have made their MLB debuts within two seasons of their draft year. Over the previous six years combined (2017-22), only 52 former Division I players reached the majors on the same accelerated timeline.
The takeaway is simple: College baseball is in the middle of a talent boom and competing at the top is as challenging as ever.
“It’s a great time to be a part of the sport,” South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri said after unretiring to take the helm in Columbia. “Being away from the sport and seeing just how great it had become made it hard to stay away.”
Baseball America over the last two months polled Division I coaches on a number of topics relating to the baseball’s increasing talent and prominence. Most recently, we asked a group of 50 program leaders from all different levels to predict the 2025 national championship winner, an exercise that ultimately provided extremely lopsided results despite growing parity across the field of teams.
Top-ranked Texas A&M dominated the polling, receiving 41 of the 50 total votes, including from every high-major coach who participated. Coaches were encouraged not to pick their own team but were allowed to.
Here’s a full breakdown of the teams that received title votes.
| SCHOOL | VOTES RECEIVED |
| Texas A&M | 41 (82%) |
| LSU | 3 (6%) |
| Virginia | 2 (4%) |
| Tennessee | 2 (4%) |
| Clemson | 1 (2%) |
| North Carolina | 1 (2%) |
The Aggies represent the perfect balance in modern roster construction, according to several coaches who discussed the matter on the condition of anonymity.
Their roster is importantly built around a prized group of returners, which includes Preseason Player of the Year Jace LaViolette, reigning SEC Freshman of the year Gavin Grahovac and ace lefty Ryan Prager, who was picked in the third round of last year’s draft but just another year of college baseball instead. Saturday starter Justin Lamkin, sophomore outfielder Caden Sorrell and junior shortstop Kaeden Kent are also among those who were a part of Texas A&M run to the title series last year and returned for 2025.
First-year Aggies head coach Michael Earley and his staff also layered in the No. 3-ranked transfer portal class in the country with seven top-100 newcomers, including former Saint Mary’s catcher Bear Harrison, former Penn second baseman Wyatt Henseler, former Texas Tech first baseman and outfielder Gavin Kash and former Long Beach State pitcher Myles Patton, among others.
“It’s a really good looking group,” a high-major coach said. “There’s really not much to even say about it. They’re very well-rounded and have multiple star-caliber players and you even look at the draft and they’ll be well-represented there too in the very early rounds. They’re good.”
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LSU, Virginia, Tennessee, Clemson and North Carolina, the other teams that received votes in BA’s poll, speak to another reality in the sport: There are two conferences doing it best right now, the SEC and ACC.
Seventeen of Baseball America’s top-25 teams came from the two leagues, including a staggering nine of the top–10 teams.
The SEC has produced the last five national champions. That includes last year when the College World Series field was split evenly between teams from that league (Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M) and the ACC (Florida State, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia).
Many of those teams are back in the title conversation this year, even if the Aggies are the favorites. Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee and Virginia are on their heels, with Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina and Oregon State in another, not-so-far-behind tier.
Ask coaches from across the country, and they’ll tell you that this season is shaping up to be one of the best.
“If people are looking for excitement, college baseball will provide it,” a mid-major head coach said. “We’ve got it all this year and it’s really been this way for a few years now. Ever since they shortened the draft. We benefited from that and I’m sure it will be on display this season.”
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