The coaches of the Southeastern Conference have spoken. Earlier today, the SEC office released the results of the pre-season balloting. As expected, Texas A&M was picked to win the league by a wide margin. The Aggies played for it all last year and look to be the odds on favorite to get back to the College World Series final.
No one in Birmingham called and asked me my opinion about how I expect things to play out, but I am offering my it anyway. It is still a free country and as we have learned over the years, pre-season lists mean next to nothing when it is all said and done. College baseball is a competition that is played out on the field. It is not a beauty pageant.
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1. Texas A&M – The Aggies return the entire weekend rotation and several important offensive pieces. Yes, Braden Montgomery is gone, but Jace Laviolette and Gavin Grahovac return as one of the league’s most dynamic 1-2 punches. There is a ton of expectations and pressure for first year head coach Michael Earley.
2. Tennessee – The Vols won it all last year and return a pretty good core group of players. Liam Doyle should prove to be one of the top starters in Knoxville if not the entire SEC. There is always the Tony Vitello factor to consider. As long as he is in Knoxville, things will be interesting.
3. LSU – I think the Tiger schedule will prevent them from winning the league, but they have some big arms that no one outside of Baton Rouge seems to be talking about. Chase Shores is healthy once again and should shore up a strong weekend rotation. Outside of a couple of trips to the Lone Star State, LSU gets their toss-up series at home.
4. Arkansas – Outside of Hagen Smith, Arkansas did not have a bona fide star in 2024. Smith is gone, but Dave Van Horn is still the man of the Ozark Mountains. The Hogs may not have an offensive star again this year. Not a single Razorback position guy made the All-SEC list, but they will be solid. They always are. The trip to LSU is big.
5. Florida – The Gators underachieved in the regular season, but caught fire in the post season advancing to Omaha. The Gators have a solid team returning and a favorable league schedule. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s bunch will have to travel to Austin and Starkville, but get Arkansas in Gainesville. Everything else looks manageable.
6. Mississippi State – The Bulldogs have a peach of an SEC schedule. State will play all seven of the teams projected below them by the SEC coaches. The Bulldogs also avoid Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. State’s portal class also looks to be better than advertised, especially offensively.
7. Georgia – The red and black Dawgs lost a lot, but hit the portal hard and inked one of the top portal classes in college baseball. They will get big series against Arkansas and Texas A&M at home, but will have to travel to both Florida and Texas. Those four series will likely determine their spot in the post season pecking order.
8. Texas – The Longhorns are having to rebuild the infield, but they have former Big-12 player of the year Max Belyeu back. It is a new day in Austin with Coach Jim Schlossnagle making the move across the rivalry from the Aggies to the Horns. Pitching will be a huge part of things, but it is tough to build a new offense in this league.
9. Vanderbilt – I truly believe that NIL and revenue sharing has brought the Commodores back to the pack. Now everyone has the chance to ensure that their players can graduate debt free. Since NIL compensation was approved, Vandy has not won an NCAA regional. I expect more of the same this year.
10. Kentucky – The Wildcats had a dream season last year, but it is nearly a brand new Cat Nine this year. Catcher Devin Burkes is the star of the team and should be one of the league’s top players. Nick Mingione will find a way to have this team compete and he will take a series that no one expect him to win other than the guys on his roster.
11. Oklahoma – The Sooners join the league in the middle of a rebuild. Oklahoma lost a ton of offensive pieces and two/thirds of the weekend rotation. They should get better as the year goes along, but there may be some growing pains in the early stages of the league slate as they take on Mississippi State, LSU and Vanderbilt.
12. Auburn – The Tigers return a pair of All-SEC selections in Ike Irish and Cooper McMurray. The issue is that there does not appear to be a lot of other pieces around them. The pitching staff has been hit hard with injuries and ineffectiveness the last two years. If Butch Thompson can see some guys healthy, they could surprise.
13. South Carolina – The Gamecocks have one of the top pro prospects in the country in Ethan Petry. The problem is that he does not have a ton of protection around him or length in the order. The USC pitching staff has some intriguing guys back, but expectations are mixed in Coach Paul Mainieri’s first year in Columbia.
14. Alabama – The rumor mill suggests that the Crimson Tide is still figuring a lot out in spring training. Alabama could swing it pretty well last year, but many of those players are gone. Justin Lebron and Will Hodo will have to do much of the heavy lifting. Zane Adams should be good, but they will have to build out the rest of the rotation.
15. Ole Miss – The good news is that the Rebels have several pieces back from last year’s line-up. The bad news is that they hit just .255. The team’s leading hitter, Ethan Lege (.323) is gone as are Andrew Fischer and his team leading 20 home runs. He left for Tennessee. Starting pitching gets a boost with Hunter Elliot back.
16. Missouri – The Tigers were bad last year and there is not a lot of confidence that things will improve this year. It remains a big rebuild in an era when players want to get father south and on rosters with better ball parks and deeper baseball pockets. There is not not enough coming back or coming in to expect much from the Tigers in 2025.
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