Next month marks Opening Day in college baseball and that means D1Baseball has come out with their preseason Top 25 rankings for the 2025 season. In 2024, the preseason number one team came from the ACC in the form of Wake Forest. This time around, the SEC holds the top spot. In fact, the SEC holds four of the top five spots in the poll coming into the year.
Overall, the SEC leads the way with nine teams in the top 25 followed by the ACC with seven, the Big 12 with three, and Big Ten with two while the Sun Belt, Conference USA, and Big West each have one. Oregon State, formerly of the Pac 12, is at number seven as an independent.
The road to Omaha starts on February 14th.
D1Baseball Preseason Top 25: Top Five Teams
1. Texas A&M
- 2024 Preseason Rank: 8
- 2024 Final Rank: 2
- 2024 Record: 53-15
Texas A&M will start the 2025 campaign number one in D1Baseball’s preseason poll. This marks the third consecutive year that they’ve cracked the top ten to start the season. This comes after a 2024 that saw the Aggies make the College World Series final for the first time in program history. It also marked the second time in three years that A&M made it to the College World Series. Unfortunately for them, they fell short to Tennessee but there’s pretty good reason to believe that they can take that one last step in 2025.
Just a day after the season, head coach Jim Schlossnagle announced that he was leaving the program to became the new head man at rival Texas. A few days later, A&M announced the hiring of their own hitting coach Michael Earley as the next man in charge. For many programs, that would give them a different outlook for next season but not for this team. Earley was the hitting coach for three seasons and oversaw one of the most lethal offenses in college baseball in 2024.
Texas A&M returns almost all of their key pieces from last season. They have maybe the best outfield in the country and it’s headed by none other than star prospect and potential number-one overall pick Jace LaViolette. To add to an already talented and powerful lineup, the team also brought in a couple of nice transfers that add even more. This loaded lineup features six players who hit double-digit home runs last season, promising to be the best offense in college baseball.
The pitching side compliments the hitting side so well. The starting pitching is headlined by ace Ryan Prager, who led the team in strikeouts last year. He is one of many proven starters who will also return to the mound for the Aggies in 2025. The bullpen is also loaded with returning talent. This pitching staff for Texas A&M is deep and will play a huge role alongside the offense.
Not only do they have the best team on paper but, in addition to finally getting over the hump, also come into 2025 motivated by everything that has happened over the offseason.
2. Virginia
- 2024 Preseason Rank: 14
- 2024 Final Rank: 7
- 2024 Record: 46-17
In 2024, Virginia made it to the College World Series for the second straight season. It was accompanied by an early exit but they come into 2025 ready to take the next step forward and they certainly have the roster to do it. Like Texas A&M, Virginia has a deep and talented roster, and that has been highlighted by head coach Brian O’Connor heading into the college baseball season.
There’s a lot to be excited about with this offense. They return big parts of their core from last year including dynamic outfielder Harrison Didawick and catcher Jacob Ference. They also have high hopes for Henry Ford, who hit 17 home runs with 69 RBI last season. These three are just the beginning of a talented lineup that includes several highly thought-of prospects. Virginia has one of the best position player groups in college baseball and they’re only showing improvement coming into this season. And don’t forget junior college two-way transfer Chris Arroyo, who will hit in the middle this order after hitting .403 with 19 home runs and 52 RBI in 2024.
In addition to his offense, Arroyo’s presence will be felt on the mound as a starter as well. He had a 3.53 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 62.2 innings as well last year. He will be thrust into a rotation that is headlined by Evan Blanco, who went 8-3 as a starter with a 3.62 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 99.1 innings pitched. Jay Woolfolk will also play a huge role in the rotation this year after playing a starring role in their Omaha appearance. Virginia returns a lot of innings on the mound and has the pitching depth to do damage.
The wealth of talent this team has on both sides of the ball might give Virginia a real shot to win their first College World Series title since 2015 and their second overall in program history.
3. LSU
- 2024 Preseason Rank: 4
- 2024 Final Rank: Not Ranked
- 2024 Record: 43-23
Going into last season, LSU was ranked number four in the preseason poll after coming off of a national championship victory. They didn’t play like it though, going 43-23 and starting with a surprising 3-12 record in the SEC. Credit to the Tigers, they finished the season on a hot streak and made the NCAA Tournament but bowed out in the regional. LSU is hoping to turn it around this season and pick up the momentum they had heading into the postseason.
LSU’s transfer and recruiting classes are always near or at the top every year in college baseball and it’s no different this time around. Coming into 2025, they brought in nine of the top 100 transfers in the nation. They hit on a mix on both sides of the ball, bringing in pitchers like Anthony Eyanson, Jacob Mayers, and Zac Cowan while also bringing in hitters like Daniel Dickinson, Luis Hernandez, and Dalton Beck. As for the recruiting class, LSU brought in the top freshman class in college baseball. Headlining the pitching side is William Schmidt while Derek Curiel headlines the position players, who might already be their best outfielder.
The pitching will be the Tigers’ strong suit with top-end talent but don’t sleep on the offense. On top of the freshman and transfers, they brought back experience in the lineup, including power bat and Preseason First-Team All-American Jared Jones at first base. At first glance on paper, the lineup doesn’t look the flashiest but it’s balanced and talented one through nine and could make a lot of noise to compliment the pitching.
The mix of talent and LSU’s track record has them sitting at number three to start 2025 and will be looking to capture their second national championship in three years.
4. Tennessee
- 2024 Preseason Rank: 9
- 2024 Final Rank: 1
- 2024 Record: 60-13
Right behind the 2023 National Champions at number four are last year’s National Champions, the Tennessee Volunteers. They finished with an impressive 60-13 record, becoming the first SEC team to reach 60 wins in a season and the fourth conference team to win the SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title, and the College World Series title. The Vols made more history as they were only the second team to win the title as the number one overall seed, joining Miami in 1999.
Due to the program’s historic season, they awarded head coach Tony Vitello with a new five-year contract. Tennessee has everything in place to repeat in 2025. Although they lost eight players in the first two days in the MLB Draft, they return a handful of players from the championship team, including Freshman All-American shortstop Dean Curley and Hunter Ensley on the offensive side along with Dylan Loy and Nate Snead on the pitching side.
Like LSU, Tennessee hit the transfer portal and recruiting trail hard. To go with the bats they already had, the Vols brought in two top transfers Andrew Fischer (3B) and Gavin Kilen (SS), with Fischer being one of the most dangerous hitters in college baseball. On the pitching side of the transfer portal, they picked one of the best arms in Liam Doyle. Tennessee also ranked number two in the top impact freshman classes, bringing in another top arm in Tegan Huhns who could figure at the top of the rotation.
Tennessee is the odds-on favorite around many betting sites and with the amount of players they were able to plug into an already strong team, seeing back-to-back champions for the first time since South Carolina in 2010-2011 is a strong possibility.
5. Arkansas
- 2024 Preseason Rank: 3
- 2024 Final Rank: 17
- 2024 Record: 44-16
The Razorbacks went 44-16 (20-10 in SEC) in 2024. They had a strong season but faded down the stretch, losing two of their last three series. Arkansas was able to clinch the two seed in the conference tournament but lost their first two games when they got there. Many thought they could reset heading into the NCAA Tournament but that wasn’t the case. They won their first game but lost the next two and got bounced in the Regionals. The Razorbacks slipped in the final rankings to number 17. Coming into 2025, they climb all the way to number five, having the pieces in place to make a deeper run this season.
Down in Fayetteville, Arkansas is led by what is setting up to be the best rotation in all of college baseball. They return Gabe Gaeckle and Gage Wood and brought in transfers Zach Root and Landon Beidelschies. The team also has a couple of other great options to choose from in the rotation, with one of them being Colin Fisher. Arkansas’s great pitching staff goes beyond the rotation as they have a loaded bullpen in all fazes from front end to back end.
Like with the pitching, Arkansas lost bats from last year but went into the portal to fill the holes. In fact, their portal class ranked number two in the country and a lot of that came on the offensive side. To pair with shortstop Wehiwa Aloy on the infield, the Razorbacks picked up third baseman Brent Iredale, who was ranked as the number two impact JUCO transfer. In the outfield, transfer Charles Davalan headlines the group, who looks like the team’s center fielder. He could be joined out there by the returning Kendall Diggs and a plethora of transfer options.
While pitching has been the Razorback calling card for a few years now, the offense has a chance to step up with what was added in the off-season. Head coach Dave Van Horn also preached a different and better approach at the plate ahead of the 2025 campaign. Arkansas has always been one of the best teams in college baseball just to fall short of expectations. This year with another dominant pitching staff on paper and a new approach at the plate, the program is hoping to turn around their unfortunate shortcomings over the last several years.
Preseason Top 25 Rankings (6-25)
6. North Carolina
7. Oregon State
8. Georgia
9. Florida State
10. Florida
11. Duke
12. Oregon
13. NC State
14. Wake Forest
15. Clemson
16. Vanderbilt
17. Oklahoma State
18. Mississippi State
19. Texas
20. Dallas Baptist
21. Arizona
22. UC Santa Barbara
23. TCU
24. Nebraska
25. Troy
Main Image: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
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