As we’re just past the midseason point, we take a look the biggest names to know and teams to keep your eye on throughout the rest of the season, alongside teams that need to improve if they want to sneak into the postseason.
Arkansas leads the way at the top of the rankings after ranking fifth in the preseason top 10. What have the Razorbacks improved on in the first half to move up the ranks and establish itself as an SEC championship contender?
Men’s College World Series runner-up Texas A&M has had a tough first half, but things are starting to look up for the Aggies after beating Tennessee in Knoxville. Which matchup are fans looking toward to be a turning point for Texas A&M?
Our college baseball experts reflect on the first half and what to look forward to the rest of the season.
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Biggest surprises | Top teams and players
Teams that need improvement
Trends to watch | Sleepers
1. Which team has surprised you the most in the first half of the season?
Chris Burke: Arkansas was picked in the preseason top 10, so to list it as “surprising” is probably a stretch. But I will say that the way it has dominated has been surprising. The Razorbacks were highly regarded in the preseason, based mostly on the strength of their experienced pitching staff, but they had legit offensive question marks after really struggling the past few years to play among the SEC elite offensively. Fast forward to the middle of the season, and Arkansas is No. 1 in the country and contending for an SEC championship, based primarily on the strength of its offense. It’s No. 4 in the country in homers (74) and No. 4 in slugging percentage (.601). While the pitching staff has been really good, No. 10 in ERA, the surprising dominance of the Razorbacks’ offense has them positioned to make a deep run in Omaha.
Mike Rooney: Tennessee needed to replace two all-time great hitters in Christian Moore and Blake Burke (among others) coming into the 2025 season. So, it was reasonable to expect this program to take a slight step back as skipper Tony Vitello reset the roster following last year’s national championship run. Low and behold, this is the most talented team in the country once again. College baseball hasn’t seen repeat national champs since South Carolina’s 2010 and 2011 seasons. Stay tuned.
David Dellucci: The incredible turnaround of the UCLA baseball team, which is ranked No. 10 in the nation this week. The 26-6 Bruins have already surpassed their win total of last season (19-33). With a very winnable schedule ahead and a No. 17 RPI, they seem to be on track to potentially host a regional.
Kiley McDaniel: Kansas has surprised me the most. Led by RHP Dominic Voegele and JC transfer 1B Brady Ballinger, the Jayhawks are leading the Big 12 despite a lack of name-brand players and are finally ranked in the top 25 this week. They even put up 29 runs vs. Minnesota a few weeks ago while tying an NCAA record with five straight home runs.
2. Which teams and players have been impressing you the most?
Burke: The Florida State offense, and the emergence of SS Alex Lodise as an offensive force, combined with Max Williams making the jump to be a true power threat, has seen the Florida State offense establish itself as the type of group that can get the Seminoles right back into a semifinal in Omaha. FSU has one of the most talented starting rotations in the country, and now with a top-five offense, it’s a team that has really impressed, and one I expect to be right there with a chance to win it all.
Rooney: In 2024, UCLA went all-in on a highly touted freshman class. And the Bruins paid a steep price for their youth, going just 19-33 in their final season in the Pac-12. Fast forward to 2025, and this group has dominated the Big Ten, going 10-2 in the league and 26-6 overall. On the player side, the Lodises are now the first family of ACC shortstops. Cousins Kyle (Georgia Tech) and Alex (Florida State) each own an OPS over 1.320, good for top 20 nationally. Don’t be surprised if these two turn Omaha into a family reunion this June.
Dellucci: I thought Arkansas would need to rely heavily on pitching and defense to win ballgames this season. Those feelings changed on opening weekend when it swept a four-game series against Washington State by an overall score of 34-8. The offense hasn’t slowed down, sweeping Missouri this past weekend by a total score of 51-9. The Hogs have scored double-digit runs in more than half of the games played this year and are leading the SEC in team batting average and RBI. I’ve also enjoyed watching the “bash brothers,” Kuhio and Wehiwa Aloy, who have bolstered the offense with a .371 and .359 batting average respectively.
McDaniel: Liam Doyle, Kade Anderson and Kyson Witherspoon are the best pitchers in the SEC, and they would all go in the top 15 picks if the draft were today; entering the season they fit somewhere from picks 30 to 60.
3. Which teams have some work to do?
Burke: I have never seen an SEC season with more teams struggling to find wins. Usually there is a team or two that falls on hard times and finds itself at the bottom of the standings. This season, there are five teams through 12 conference games that have three wins or fewer. Florida, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Missouri all find themselves 3-9 or worse. What’s wild is two of those five teams, Texas A&M and Florida, were in the final four last year in Omaha. Not to mention that the Aggies were the preseason No. 1. The margins are slim in the SEC, slide just a little and things can go sideways fast!
Rooney: North Carolina entered the season with the momentum of a MCWS appearance and a top-six preseason ranking. The Tar Heels sit at No. 16 with a perfectly cromulent record of 25-8. Their 8-7 ACC mark reveals some of the struggles though, especially on the offensive side. The club’s .268 batting average ranks 14th in the conference. UNC’s extreme arm talent raises the ceiling for this team, but the lineup has room to grow.
Dellucci: 2024 MCWS runner-up Texas A&M has had a puzzling first half to say the least. Entering the Tennessee series with a 1-8 conference record and then getting no hits and beaten by the 10-run rule in Game 1, it felt like the Aggies went from preseason No. 1 to all but done. But after hitting 11 home runs and blowing out the Vols 26-9 in the next two games, fans are looking ahead to the upcoming series against South Carolina with the optimism that the Aggies may get back on track and sneak into the postseason.
McDaniel: Florida. The Gators have played a tough conference schedule so far, but I can’t say I imagined they could be 1-11 in the SEC. The good news is they face 0-12 Missouri this weekend.
4. What is the biggest storyline to watch over the rest of the season?
Burke: Ryland Zaborowski started the season batting eighth for the Georgia Bulldogs. A fifth-year senior who transferred from Miami (Ohio), he was expected to contribute, but how much was hard to say for a guy who hit 10 homers last year in the MAC. Well, in one of the wildest storylines that I can remember, not only has “Zabo” contributed, but he’s performing at a Golden Spikes Award level. He’s putting up numbers on par with last year’s GSA winner, also a Georgia Bulldog, Charlie Condon. Through 34 games, Zaborowski is second in the SEC in batting at .424 and is tied-second in the country with 15 homers and tied-fifth in country with 51 RBIs. There’s a long way to go, but it would be quite a story if a fifth-year senior allows Georgia to have back-to-back national players of the year.
Rooney: Do programs need time to acclimate to new conference homes? Apparently not. Texas has aced its first four SEC series. The aforementioned UCLA Bruins are running right through the Big Ten. And it would not shock anyone if Arizona or Arizona State won the Big 12 in their inaugural seasons in the league. Best in class translates in college baseball, and these programs seem to be enjoying their new neighborhoods.
Dellucci: The transfer portal is a significant part to fielding a championship team, and it seems the top teams in D1 baseball this year have rosters that are filled with transfers. For the casual fan, the overall product on the field is definitely better, but there are also a lot of questions and concerns about the long-term effect on the sport. What will the path for high school players be in the future? What will happen to midmajor programs? How can a coach who is hired after the season build a roster after the portal has been drained? And the most important question, what is the effect on the (remember this term?) student athlete?
McDaniel: The battle at the top of the SEC, and thus a likely Omaha preview. Arkansas, Texas, LSU and Tennessee are all traditional powers stuffed with pro talent that will be fun to watch down the stretch.
5. Which sleeper team do you think has a shot to make a deep run in the MCWS?
Burke: UCLA? It has been a while since the Bruins were a true Omaha contender, but it feels like this year it has positioned itself to host a regional, which is step number one in getting back to Omaha. There was a lot of concern about UCLA’s future as it entered the Big Ten for its first trip through a new cold weather conference. However, the change of scenery has been really good for the Bruins to this point. They are top five in the conference in both batting and ERA, and their 10-2 record has them positioned to win the regular-season title. It has been a minute, but 2025 might see the return of John Savage and the Bruins to the MCWS.
Rooney: Arizona won both Pac-12 championships (regular season and tournament) on its way to hosting a regional in 2024. Chip Hale’s program has national championship pedigree, and this team’s pitching depth is extraordinary. Once dynamic outfielder Brendan Summerhill returns from his hand injury, look out. In the Big West, UC Irvine and Cal Poly are the kind of teams you do not want in your regional.
Dellucci: Georgia Tech is no stranger to postseason baseball, having been to regionals three of the past four seasons. Tech is on a similar track, with a team batting average of .341 and ERA of 4.06 and a 26-7 overall record (11-4 in ACC play). But there is more motivation than ever this season as head coach Danny Hall is set to retire after 32 years. Can the Yellow Jackets follow the 2019 Florida State Seminoles, who gave the late Mike Martin a farewell to remember by ending his career with a trip to Omaha?
McDaniel: Virginia is 7-8 in the ACC, but the Cavaliers have the components you’d want to see them taking a step forward. If a couple of their young players or those off to an uneven start can right the ship, they’ll be right back in it.
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