A new season opens Friday for NCAA Division I baseball teams, the first step toward Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series, which is set to begin on June 13.
Here are 10 teams to watch in 2025, listed in alphabetical order with their overall win-loss records from the 2024 season.
Arkansas (44-16): Strong pitching and defense are hallmarks of veteran coach Dave Van Horn’s program; finding more offense was the priority heading into his 23rd season in charge at his alma mater after the Razorbacks went 0-2 at the Southeastern Conference tournament, then failed to advance out of their Fayetteville Regional on the NCAA tournament’s opening weekend last spring. They added power with the bats of transfers Brent Iredale (New Mexico Junior College) and Rocco Peppi (Fresno State), while Logan Maxwell is also on board after being TCU’s leading hitter last season. On the mound, the top candidates for the weekend rotation are right-hander Gabe Gaeckle, who was the team’s closer in 2024, and lefty transfers Landon Beidelschies (Ohio State) and Zach Root (East Carolina).
Florida State (49-17): After a runner-up finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, the Seminoles reached the final four of the College World Series with one of the top lineups in the country. Offensive catalysts Cam Smith and James Tibbs III were selected in the first round of the MLB draft, and the players being counted on to replace some of that firepower include junior Max Williams, junior-college transfer Blaydon Plain (Pensacola State) and freshman Myles Bailey, a Lincoln High School standout who remained in Tallahassee to join the Seminoles. As for pitching, ace Jamie Arnold returns, and Wes Mendez (Ole Miss) and Joey Volini (South Florida) are promising transfers; all three are lefties.
LSU (43-23): The Tigers, who won their seventh CWS title in 2023, hope to avoid the ups and downs of a year ago, when they struggled in SEC play but reached an NCAA regional final and won 10 of their last 13 games. Seven position players with starting experience are back, including Jared Jones (28 home runs in 2024) and preseason All-America shortstop Michael Braswell III. Gavin Guidry, a bullpen stalwart for two years, is in line to become a starter and has been joined by a host of transfers on the staff.
AP photo by Ben McKeown / LSU’s Michael Braswell (10) celebrates after hitting a home run during an NCAA regional game against Wofford on May 31 in Chapel Hill, N.C.Nebraska (40-22): The Cornhuskers bring back an experienced roster after winning the Big Ten tournament and making their sixth NCAA regional since 2014. Seven everyday players return from that team, and they added Summit League player of the year Cael Frost from South Dakota State. Mason McConnaughey takes over for conference pitcher of the year Brett Sears as the No. 1 starter, and Tyner Horn is likely the No. 2 after drawing good reviews in the fall.
North Carolina (48-16): The Tar Heels were a consensus top-10 team in preseason rankings despite losing first-round pick Vance Honeycutt and two other outfielders to the draft from their 2024 team that won a regional and a super regional in Chapel Hill to make it to Omaha. Jason Decaro is back as the No. 1 starter after going 6-1 with a 3.81 ERA as a freshman, and fellow right-hander Matthew Matthijs led the ACC with 12 wins in 36 appearances out of the bullpen last year as a sophomore. Luke Stevenson is the No. 1 catcher prospect for this year’s draft, according to MLB.com.
Oklahoma State (42-19): The Cowboys are the Big 12 favorites and have the conference preseason player of the year in junior slugger Nolan Schubart, who batted .370 with 23 homers last season. Seven players were lost to the draft, though, and it could take time for the Cowboys to find their rhythm. The biggest question is pitching. Gabe Davis, mostly a reliever for his first two seasons, and transfers Harrison Bodendorf (Hawaii) and Mario Pesca (St. John’s) are competing for weekend spots. Bodendorf is 6-foot-5 lefty; even bigger are right-handers Davis, who’s 6-9, and Pesca, who’s 6-8.
Oregon State (45-16): The Beavers will play as an independent in the first season of a dormant Pac-12, and only 20 of their 56 games will be at home. Nationally, expectations remain the same as Oregon State adjusts to not having infielder Travis Bazzana, the overall No. 1 draft pick last summer. The Beavers are a consensus top-10 team with outfielders Gavin Turley and Dallas Macias among the top returning players, infielder Aiva Arquette (Hawaii) the top transfer and pitcher Dax Whitney the top freshman.
Tennessee (60-13): The Volunteers swept the SEC’s regular-season and tournament titles, then won the CWS for the first time in program history, doing it all with a lineup that amassed 184 home runs in 2024, four behind the NCAA single-season record set by LSU in 1997. Most of the big boppers are gone after the draft took five everyday players. Ole Miss transfer Andrew Fischer hit 20 homers last year, though, and the Vols are solid up the middle with Dean Curley at shortstop, Louisville transfer Gavin Kilen at second base and Hunter Ensley in center field. No team has won the CWS two years in a row since South Carolina repeated in 2011.
AP photo by Mike Buscher / Ryan Prager pitches for Texas A&M during a College World Series game against Kentucky on June 17 in Omaha, Neb.Texas A&M (53-15): Michael Earley was promoted from hitting coach to head coach shortly after Jim Schlossnagle bolted for rival Texas on the heels of the Aggies losing to Tennessee in the CWS finals. Few first-year coaches inherit so much talent: The Aggies are the consensus No. 1 team nationally in the preseason rankings and were picked to win the SEC, the conference that has won the past five editions of the CWS. Potential No. 1 draft pick Jace LaViolette (29 homers, 78 RBIs in 2024) is the headliner of a lineup that returns most of the pieces from last season. The ace is lefty Ryan Prager, a third-round draft pick who turned down a fat bonus from the Los Angeles Angels to stay in school.
Virginia (46-17): The Cavaliers are a consensus top-five team and the favorite to win the ACC, and no one would be surprised to see them in a third straight CWS. The spark plugs for the lineup are sixth-year catcher Jacob Ference, sophomore right fielder Henry Ford and junior second baseman Henry Godbout — Ford and Godbout are Baylor School graduates, along with freshman left-hander Tomas Valincius — while Evan Blanco returns as the No. 1 starter with Bryson Moore and Jay Woolfolk competing for spots in the weekend rotation. Eric Becker is first in line to replace three-year starting shortstop Griff O’Ferrall. Valincius and outfielder James Nunnallee are considered budding stars as they begin their college baseball careers.
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