It’s the middle of February, it’s cold outside, and many parts of the country are getting blasted with snow, so you know what that means…college baseball season is back! This coming weekend will mark the opening weekend for the 2019 college baseball season. Teams all around the country will begin their quest to Omaha, Nebraska, to battle it out to become the national champion. The best and most unique feature of college baseball is the fact that any team can make it to the College World Series in Omaha and have the chance to win it all. This was evident a few years ago when Coastal Carolina made their improbable run to win it all. There’s always plenty of surprises across college baseball every year, but let’s take a quick preview to see how the experts predict things will shake out.

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There are several team-ranking polls for college baseball that are very similar, but for today’s preview we will look at the prestigious Baseball America poll. Here’s the top-25 broken down by conference:

Teams in the Top-25 by Conference

SEC: 8 teams

Vanderbilt (1st), LSU (2nd), Florida (4th), Mississippi St. (9th), Mississippi (13th), Georgia (15th), Auburn (17th), Arkansas (18th)

ACC: 5 teams

North Carolina (5th), Florida St. (6th), Louisville (11th), Clemson (14th), Duke (22nd)

Big 12: 3 teams

Texas Tech (8th), Baylor (16th), Texas (19th)

Pac 12: 3 teams

UCLA (3rd), Stanford (7th), Oregon St. (10th)

Big Ten: 2 teams

Michigan (20th), Minnesota (24th)

AAC: 1 team

East Carolina (12th)

C-USA: 1 team

Southern Mississippi (21st)

Sun Belt: 1 team

Coastal Carolina (23rd)

Big West: 1 team

UC Irvine (25th)

SEC

With a total of eight teams ranked in the pre-season top-25, the SEC will continue to be a dominant force across the college baseball landscape. Vanderbilt is the pre-season favorite to win the College World Series, while LSU and Florida are both in the top five. The Vanderbilt Commodores are returning a lot of talent from a Super Regional team last year, including key players in their lineup and all three weekend starting pitchers. With a track record of success, everyone anticipates this team to be in Omaha if they can stay healthy.

The second overall ranked LSU Tigers also return top talent, with three of their top four hitters from last season returning. Florida will be looking at getting back to the College World Series once again, after an unsuccessful trip there last year. The Gators will have plenty of pitching this year, which is no surprise with the top arms that have been drafted out of that program recently (AJ Puk, Brady Singer). Ole Miss returns one of the best lineups in the country, while their in-state rival Mississippi State is looking to make it back to Omaha this year.

The SEC is always one of the most fun conferences to watch in baseball, and this year will be no different. For as much love as the conference gets in football, they’re way deeper and much better in baseball. Last year three teams from the conference made it to the College World Series. At least two will make it this year, and there’s a good chance they send three teams again.

ACC

The ACC is the conference I pull for, and once again they are stacked. With 1/5 of the top-25 pre-season rankings made up of ACC schools, it will be a fun conference to watch this season. North Carolina leads the way, ranked 5th. Top hitter Michael Busch will anchor the Tar Heel lineup, while they also return their top pitcher Gianluca Delatri. After falling short to eventual-champion Oregon State in Omaha last year, the Tar Heels are in good position to make another run for it this year.

Florida State is seeking to bounce back from its disappointing knockout in the regional bracket last year and send coach Mike Martin out on a high note after 40 seasons of coaching the team. They expect four freshmen to start in the lineup this year, so we will have to wait and see how well they adjust to the college game. I expect Louisville to be a very dangerous team this season. After losing a lot of talent to the major leagues in the last several years, they are returning a lot of key players this year, including four of their five top pitchers. They overachieved last year with a younger squad, so it will be interesting to see how far they go this year with more experience behind them. Clemson should be good once again, with one of the best players in the country in shortstop Logan Davidson leading the way. Duke will be an interesting team to keep an eye on after having the best season in program history last year. They lost six of their top eight hitters and two key starting pitchers, but many feel confident about the talent to replace them.

Big 12

When it comes to the Big 12 in baseball, discussions typically revolve around the state of Texas. Overall, it is probably the best baseball state every year, although you could make an argument for California. This year is no different with all three of the conference’s teams in the pre-season top-25 hailing from the Lone Star state. Texas Tech leads the way after falling short in the College World Series last season. They are back with a solid team all around, with no real weaknesses. Josh Jung will also be back after hitting a remarkable .392 last season with 12 home runs and 80 rbi.

Baylor may end up being the team to beat in this conference, though. Experience is always crucial, and the Bears will have a ton of it. They return their entire lineup and all three of their weekend starting pitchers. If they can just find capable relievers to replace the ones that left, they will be set to inflict a lot of damage on teams this year. Texas has a lot of expectations this year as well (like usual) but they will have to fill some big holes from last year, such as Roger Clemens’s youngest son Kody. Much of their pitching is gone, so that will be a big question mark entering this season.

Pac 12

The Pac 12 conference is always one to keep an eye on as they regularly produce College World Series winners and always provide top talent to the major leagues. When previewing the Pac 12, you have to start with the defending champions Oregon State. They’ve won it all three times in the last 13 years, and it seems they always get hot at the right time. One thing the Beavers always have is plenty of hitting. Their lineup last year was lethal, and they return arguably the best player in the country in catcher Adley Rutschman, who hit an astonishing .408 last season with nine home runs and 83 rbi. They might not be quite as strong this year, losing a good chunk of their lineup, but you can still guarantee nobody will want to play them in May.

UCLA looks to be the strongest team from the Pac 12 as of right now, ranking 3rd overall. They have quite a few returning players from last year’s regional team and are expecting to have a high-powered lineup. Stanford also brings a very talented club into this season, but hopes to improve on their inconsistent hitting from last year. Crosstown rival USC is also looking to have a big year with a lot of returning players, but they’ll have to overcome the inconsistency that plagued them last year as well.

Big Ten

When you think of the Big Ten, your mind probably goes straight to football or basketball. They haven’t produced a College World Series winner since 1966 and usually don’t have as many top teams as other Power 5 conferences. Even still, they produce some quality teams and quality talent in Big Ten country. This season, it’s the Michigan Wolverines who are expected to lead the way. Ranked 20th, they have a lot of returning players from a team who had a very solid year last year. With another year of experience and improvement, this team is capable of going to Omaha.

Minnesota squeezed into the pre-season top-25 with a 24th overall ranking. The Golden Gophers won the conference last year before making it all the way to the Super Regionals and losing to the eventual champion Oregon State. With a lot of question marks on offense after losing a hefty portion of it, the pitching will have to step up and carry this team if they want to be as successful as they were last year. But they are more than capable of doing that with last year’s Freshman All-American pitcher Patrick Fredrickson and Max Meyer who established himself as one of the best closers in the country last season.

Other Conferences

We’ll start with East Carolina. Ranked 12th in the country right now, there are high expectations in Pirate country. After 44 wins last year, it was sort of a letdown to get beat in the regionals. But they return a lot of talent, including last year’s conference player of the year, Bryant Packard, who hit .406 with 14 home runs and 50 rbi. They have their top four pitchers coming back as well, so if they can stay healthy, there is no reason this team can’t get to the College World Series.

Southern Miss had a very similar season to East Carolina last year, winning 44 games, finishing first in their conference, and losing in regional play. Their question mark this season will be on pitching since they will have to replace a lot of it, including All-American Nick Sandlin. But on offense, they should be stout. All-American Matt Walner should lead the way. Walner hit .351 last year and also is a pitcher who should see more quality time on the mound.

In continuing with last year’s comparison to East Carolina, Coastal Carolina won 43 games, won their conference, but also fell short in the regionals. This program has been solid for a while, but really burst onto the national scene after the College World Series championship in 2016. They should be a very good team once again returning several key pieces. Some of their success will depend on how freshman Garrett McDaniels performs on the mound this year, as he is expected to see a lot of innings. Their strength is expected to be their bullpen.

UC Irvine could be a wildcard contender this year. They finished the season last year not ranked and tied for third in the Big West Conference. But they got a few transfers who are expected to see time, along with returning players who the team hopes can be more consistent. They did have some very big wins last year, beating TCU and UCLA, to prove the talent is there. With another year of experience behind them, some think they could make it to Omaha. Of course as I stated earlier, almost any team can if they get hot at the right time.

Garett

Credit: Jake Masroianni/http://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/category/2019-season-coverage/2019-season-preview/

2019 College Baseball Preview