Highs, Lows, and Everything in Between By Ryan Faulkner After a nine-game slate filled with upsets, walk-offs, and extra-inning baseball, the Southeastern Conference was the ultimate winner of the College Baseball Showdown. The SEC posted a 6-3 record against the Big 12, with all three of the conference’s representatives earning two wins and dropping one game each. Some teams certainly performed better than others, but they all showed considerable strengths and weaknesses over the weekend. And, more importantly, all three teams presented questions—unknowns—for fans across the country to watch unravel as the season progresses. No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks Weekend Results Win vs. No. 38 Texas, 3-2 Loss vs. No. 12 TCU, 6-18 Win vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State, 18-1 Overall Record: 2-1 The Good If you were in the market for a team full of new and undiscovered superstars just waiting for their chance to make a statement in SEC baseball, look no further than the Arkansas Razorbacks. Easily the most pleasant surprise from Arkansas’ successful weekend was transfer Jared Wegner, fresh off a First Team All-Big East performance with Creighton last year. He started the weekend batting fifth in the lineup, but by game three, Wegner had firmly cemented his position in the three-hole. Looking to bring runners home? Wegner had nine RBIs. Want someone who knows how to get on-base, no matter the cost? Wegner drew two walks and a hit-by-pitch in addition to his six hits, four of which were for extra bags. And his casual single into left field against TCU? Yeah, that thing had a 115-mph exit velo off the bat. The kid is insane. And, speaking of newcomers to the team, it would be a crime not to mention that 20 different players suited up wearing Cardinal and White for the very first time in their collegiate careers. If even a quarter of those turn out to be the type of superstar that Van Horn has come to expect of his athletes, then Arkansas will be set for not only the 2023 season, but many years to come. The Bad The Razorbacks’ offense is absolutely explosive at times, but when it flounders, it falls hard. We saw these issues for two-thirds of the weekend tournament. Though they squeaked out a win over Texas on Friday night, that was more attributable to a great performance from the pitching rotation (see below) than to an impressive offense. That night, the team struck out 12 times, and the first four batters in the lineup—meant to be the most offensively gifted men on the team—combined for only three hits. The night-and-day difference between this performance and the team’s Sunday showing, a mind-blowing 18-run affair, cannot be overstated. Maybe Friday was an off-night, maybe Sunday was a fluke, or maybe the team’s offensive capabilities actually lie somewhere between the two performances. Either way, the lack of clarity is a concerning way to start the season. I’d wager that this inconsistency will work itself out with a few more weeks of play. However, until that happens, Arkansas needs to work on finding a rhythm instead of walking into a game unsure of whether its batters would score three runs or 18. The Unknown Less than two weeks ago, it was announced that projected weekend starter Jaxon Wiggins would miss the entire 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The fallout left fans wondering if the Razorbacks still had the pitching talent necessary to succeed in the coming season. With three games under the team’s belt, I can give a confident answer of “probably so.” Lefty Hagen Smith continued to solidify his position as one of the best young arms in the nation, with the sophomore striking out eight and giving up only one hit across five frames in his start against Texas. In other words, Arkansas definitely has a Friday starter. Another sophomore, closer Brady Tygart, bookended the Razorbacks’ stellar night on the mound by striking out three of his five batters faced and picking up his first save of the season. This duo is young, but you wouldn’t know it from their performances. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, this success didn’t carry into Saturday, which saw Dave Van Horn make a total of eight calls to the bullpen. Five of those relievers did not even last a full inning, and the pitching rotation against TCU posted a brutal 18.00 ERA in addition to their 11 walks. It’s clear that Arkansas has a solid core of strong and controlled arms. For instance, junior lefty Hunter Hollan looked great in his debut with the Razorbacks, striking out five and giving up only one earned run. But to win a conference series in the SEC, a team needs more than a few good hurlers to get them through the weekend. Whether or not the less-successful men on the mound can rise to the level of their teammates may ultimately make or break the Razorbacks’ season. No. 37 Missouri Tigers Weekend Results Loss vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State, 3-5 Win vs. No. 38 Texas, 6-5 Win vs. No. 12 TCU, 9-8 Overall Record: 2-1 The Good Although social media has parroted that the Tigers were just “happy to be here,” a nod to their position as one of only two teams in the tournament not ranked in the top-25, the Mizzou offense suggested otherwise. The Tigers stayed within two runs of Oklahoma State, and then seemingly carried this confidence boost into the next game, recording 14 hits against Texas. In that same matchup, the lineup-opening one-two punch of Luke Mann and Cam Chick stole the spotlight, with each man going three-for-five at the plate and posting a combined six hits, three runs, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. And, above all else, the Tigers’ aggressiveness can be summed up with one simple word: gutsy. I mean, calling a bunt single with nobody on base? Larger-than-necessary leadoffs while already up by a few runs? Stealing third base on a right-handed pitcher with a lefty at the plate? This mindset paid off in the end, with an extra-inning double-steal solidifying the Tigers’ win over then-undefeated TCU. Not many managers have the aforementioned guts to coach as boldly as Steve Bieser. This style of playing doesn’t always work, but when it does, it makes Mizzou unpredictable in the best way. The Bad The Tigers’ biggest weakness appeared to be their tendency to let small mistakes snowball into larger and often-irrecoverable blunders. Mizzou’s defense managed to put up eight goose eggs on Oklahoma State’s scorecard but still dropped that game thanks to a five-run second inning. There, one single led to another, and by the time Mizzou recovered, the Tigers’ fate was already sealed. Mizzou’s second game nearly paralleled the first, with Texas scoring its first run on three free bags off of multiple throwing errors. The Longhorns scored another two runs in the fourth before the Tigers finally escaped from an unnecessarily created, bases-loading situation. Thankfully, they showed tenacity in the second matchup and managed to recover before walking off their first win of the season. Lastly, without minimizing the Tigers’ accomplishments—seriously, they played great—it’s important to consider that although Mizzou outhit TCU by seven and had four fewer errors, they still needed an extra inning to get the job done. A win is a win, yes, but if the Horned Frogs hadn’t shot themselves in the foot at the last minute, I’m not sure the results would have been the same. In each case, the damage could have been minimized far earlier than what actually played out on the field. Going forward, the Tigers need to place an emphasis on keeping their composure and carrying a level head through all 27 outs. The Unknown After this weekend, there’s no doubt that the Tigers will be better than many people expected. The lingering question, now, is whether it will be enough for the Tigers to compete for ten grueling weeks in the SEC. Last season, the Tigers were just one win shy of making the SEC Tournament. Now, Mizzou is presented with the difficult task of proving that last year’s ending doesn’t define this year’s beginning. A 2-1 record to start 2023 is certainly a great start on that path, especially considering the team’s one loss was one of the closest games of the weekend. Will Mizzou surprise everyone by sweeping their next 53 games en route to the program’s first national title since 1954? Probably not. But other teams in the Southeastern Conference should try their best to avoid underestimating this scrappy ball club, at least at this point in the season. No. 13 Vanderbilt Commodores Weekend Results Loss vs. No. 12 TCU, 4-11 Win vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State, 11-9 Win vs. No.38 Texas, 12-2 Overall Record: 2-1 The Good Although they sometimes struggled to bring baserunners home, the Commodores had a phenomenal at-the-plate presence throughout the tournament. Most notably, this manifested itself in the team’s ability to put the ball into play, rather than accepting frustrating strikeouts at the plate. In fact, Vanderbilt posted two of the three lowest strikeout numbers of the whole tournament against TCU and Oklahoma State, being struck out just six and four times, respectively. In that sense, it’s quite clear that the Vandy Boys are comfortable waiting for their pitch and are not inclined to chase balls outside the zone. According to Vanderbilt Athletics’ radio broadcast team, this was largely the result of the team’s near-sole use of wooden bats during the offseason, which allowed each player on the roster to “find their swing” and drill down on the fundamentals. A later start to the team’s fall season also meant that the Commodores had two extra weeks of strength and conditioning training, which paired nicely with the players’ commitment to additional bulking (with some players, like Enrique Bradfield Jr., putting on upwards of 15 pounds). If the Commodores can pair this newfound strength with their already-productive plate appearances, it will only be a matter of time before runs quickly begin piling up before opposing defenses even realize what hit them. The Bad Early reports indicated that Vanderbilt was posturing itself as a pitching-oriented squad, intending to win with tight and low-scoring affairs as opposed to offensive shootouts. Unfortunately for fans of the Black and Gold, this does not appear to be the case. The Commodores’ starting pitchers averaged about four innings on the mound, forcing head coach Tim Corbin to call to the bullpen earlier than many expected and putting unnecessary pressure on the team’s less-developed arms. The return of senior Sam Hliboki, back on the mound for the first time in 22 months after missing the 2022 season due to injury, was meant to be a triumphant homecoming. The senior admittedly showed promise, striking out three of the first four batters he faced, but a five-run sixth inning by TCU signaled that he still has some dust to shake. Junior Hunter Owen looked to change course against Oklahoma State, starting his season by giving up two earned runs across the game’s first four frames, but his four-man bullpen rotation gave up another five and almost caused the Commodores to blow what was, at one point, an 11-2 lead. Sunday was better, with Devin Futrell and Bryce Cunningham allowing only three hits and two earned runs against Texas, but giving up a total 22 runs on the weekend cannot be the new norm if Vanderbilt wants to use its arms as the main driving force into a potential postseason run. The Unknown At first glance, the Commodores show promise in their ability to force opposing teams to make mistakes. The big question, however, is whether Vanderbilt can take advantage of these moments of weakness to strike hard and inflict mortal wounds as opposed to mere papercuts. Take, for example, the top of the sixth inning in their game against TCU. There, the Commodores prolonged their at-bats long enough to load the bases without even a single hit. At that point, the ballgame was still knotted at two, and Vanderbilt looked poised to blow the roof off Globe Life Park. Instead, the Commodores got just one run across, stranding three and dropping what was otherwise their biggest scoring opportunity of the entire weekend. Vanderbilt has proven that its squad can create advantageous positions for itself, but it has yet to convince us that it knows how to capitalize on those instances. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

There was no easing into the 2023 season for many SEC teams like Tennessee, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Missouri who faced stiff competition. It was the Volunteers who looked the shakiest, dropping a pair of games while becoming the only SEC team not to get at least 2 wins on the weekend. Meanwhile, several other SEC teams took the opposite approach in week 1 playing outmatched competition and beating them sufficiently. There weren’t a ton of surprises overall as each team is looking to find the right fits for the lineup and rotation before conference play begins. Missouri impressive as SEC wins battle with Big 12 in College Baseball Showdown The premiere event of opening weekend with the SEC and Big 12 facing off at Globe Life Field is the College Baseball Showdown. While Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas all had winning weekends, it was Missouri who stole the show. The Tigers got off to a bumpy start as they lost to Oklahoma State 5-3 on Friday because of a 5-run second where a couple of things didn’t go their way. But then they bounced back with a walk-off win over Texas on Saturday and a comeback win over TCU on Sunday night. Missouri consistently threw out some impressive arms over the weekend. Tony Neubeck came on in relief on Friday against Oklahoma State and was mostly untouchable with 9 strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Closer Zach Franklin pitched 4.2 innings allowing just 1 hit with 10 strikeouts while regularly touching 97 MPH with the fastball combined with a hard slider. Ty Wilmsmeyer led Missouri at the plate with 7 hits and 4 runs scored, while Luke Mann brought the power with a pair of doubles and a home run. It was a mixed bag for Vanderbilt who had a winning weekend, including a 12-2 win over Texas, but the offense hit just .255 and the pitching staff had a 6.92 ERA (most of that damage coming against the bullpen late in games). Bryce Cunningham was the one bright spot out of the bullpen striking out 7 batters in 4 no-hit innings. Arkansas won a close one over rival Texas 3-2 on Friday, gave up 18 in a loss to TCU on Saturday, and then run-ruled Oklahoma State in a 18-1 win on Sunday. Jared Wegner had a big weekend offensively for the Razorbacks going 6-11 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 8 RBI. Hagen Smith was great on the mound for Arkansas allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks in 5 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts against Texas. Tennessee humbled out West The Volunteers came into the season with lofty expectations, but many may have overlooked the big losses in the lineup. Add to that eligibility issues for star transfer Maui Ahuna, and the Vols offense looked lost. They scored just 4 runs in their first two games against Arizona and Grand Canyon – both losses – and then had just 3 runs through the first 6 innings against UC San Diego on Sunday before a 4-run seventh broke things open. Their pitching will be elite, as expected, but there has to be some early season panic on Rocky Top about the lineup. And perhaps the most concerning part of the weekend was the poor play defensively, but it is the first weekend of the college baseball season, there is plenty of time to work these things out. These teams smashed There is doing what you’re supposed to do and then there is doing what Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Florida, LSU, and Texas A&M did to their respective opponents. Here are the combined scores for each weekend series: South Carolina over UMASS Lowell: 49-5 Alabama over Richmond: 39-5 Ole Miss over Delaware: 35-6 Florida over Charleston Southern: 36-5 LSU over Western Michigan 24-5 Texas A&M over Seattle: 28-7 And several of these games ended in the 7th inning or these scores could have been a lot worse. Florida’s starting pitchers were really impressive as Brandon Sproat, Hurston Waldrep, and Jac Caglianone combined to strike out 22 batters in 17.1 innings while only allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits. Sproat pitched 5.2 no-hit innings on Friday night. Joseph Gonzalez helped lead the defending College World Series champions to their opening weekend sweep with a 7 RBI game on Sunday. Braylen Wimmer had a big weekend for the Gamecocks picking up 8 hits, 1 double, 2 home runs, and 8 RBI. Alabama’s two big-time starters, Grayson Hitt and Ben Hess, combined to toss 11 shutout innings on the weekend allowing just 4 hits and 3 walks with 14 strikeouts. Andrew Pinckney picked up 8 hits on the weekend for the Crimson Tide, including a home run. Paul Skenes looked like the most dominant starter in the country in his first game with top-ranked LSU striking out 12 batters in 6 shutout innings. Sketchy, but we got it done Kentucky, Georgia, and Mississippi State lost single games to Elon, Jacksonville State, and VMI respectively but they all came away with series wins to start their seasons. Amani Larry had a huge weekend for Mississippi State collecting 8 hits, including 3 doubles and a home run, while driving in 9 and stealing 4 bases. Parks Harber had 2 doubles and 2 home runs on the weekend for Georgia. Zack Lee was solid on the mound for Kentucky striking out 7 in 5 scoreless innings. The Wildcat pitching staff as a whole allowed just 3 earned runs on the weekend striking out 32 batters in 26 innings. And while Auburn losing to Indiana isn’t a bad look, losing 11-2 on Sunday wasn’t a great way to end the weekend. Joseph Gonzalez looked solid on the mound for Auburn in Saturday’s win allowing just 2 hits in 5 shutout innings without walking a batter. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The first weekend of college baseball is in the books which means it's time to reassess the preseason rankings. After nearly a thousand games of college baseball were played on Opening Weekend, some teams skyrocketed, but none were able to pass LSU who remains at No. 1. Wake Forest, missing Teddy McGraw due to soreness, swept through their four games against Youngstown State and Illinois and climbed to No. 2. Stanford, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M round out the top five. The SEC tops all conferences with 13 ranked teams, followed by the ACC (10), and Pac-12 (6). The Big 12 and Sun Belt are tied at four teams apiece.. See the full top 50 below! Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The opening of the college baseball season offered fans the first opportunity to see the teams that make up the new-look Sun Belt Conference. Southern Miss, the early favorite to lead the Sun Belt and ranked No. 8 by College Baseball Nation, got their season underway in Hattiesburg by hosting the Liberty Flames. Right-hander Tanner Hall was dominant over five scoreless innings in Friday’s season opener. Hall allowed Liberty just one base hit, and it was the only hit of the game for the Flames offense. Head coach Scott Berry went to the bullpen and got three hitless innings from Tyler Martin and one hitless frame from Justin Storn to close out the 3-0 shutout. Southern Miss catcher Blake Johnson led the offense in Friday’s opener going 3-for-3 with a home run along with scoring after he reached base on a leadoff walk. Matthew Adams and Kros Sivley combined to allow the Flames just a single run in Saturday’s middle game. While Liberty pitched well, runs driven in by Tate Parker and Gabe Lacy in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, were the difference as the Golden Eagles secured the series with a 2-1 win. Niko Mazza took the mound for Southern Miss on Sunday, and he was practically flawless as he struck out six and allowed just one run in 5 1/3 innings. Parker homered for the Golden Eagles, who tagged two different Liberty pitchers for three runs each. The 7-2 victory gave Southern Miss the series sweep and ensured that the Golden Eagles would remain the Sun Belt’s highest ranked team moving into the first full week of the season. The opening weekend sweep of a quality Liberty ball club, and in the fashion in which they did it, allowing just three runs in 21 innings, will send the message to the rest of the Sun Belt that the newest member of the conference is also the best. The combination of great arms that can get outs and timely hitting will make the Golden Eagles tough to beat come conference play. In addition to Hall, another conference player on the Golden Spikes watch list is Texas State pitcher Levi Wells. He was also on the mound Friday night as the Bobcats opened their season at home in San Marcos against Northwestern. Like Hall, Wells was dominant while tossing five shutout innings and striking out nine. The Bobcat offense exploded all weekend and led Texas State to a 3-0 start with victories of 12-4, 20-5, and 24-9. In the series-clinching win on Saturday, all nine hitters in the Texas State lineup had at least one hit. Four Bobcats hit home runs and Cade Manning went 3-for-3 in the 20-run affair. Sunday’s 24 runs came via 20 base hits, eight of them home runs including two by Chase Mora. Mora, a freshman, did not play in Friday’s game, but he also homered on Saturday to bring his early season total to three. The balanced offense had seven players with multiple hits. Texas State, ranked No. 23 by College Baseball Nation, lost plenty of players from their 2022 team which pushed Stanford to the limit in the regionals last June, but their remaining talent was on display over the weekend as head coach Steven Trout always had his team ready to compete. If Southern Miss falters, the Bobcats will be ready to pounce. Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Marshall, and Troy join Southern Miss and Texas State in the undefeated ranks, all at 3-0. Not to be overlooked, South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, No. 44 Louisiana, No. 43 Old Dominion, and ULM all finished the weekend with 2-1 records. Early on, the Sun Belt promises to be competitive, but the grind of a full season has only just begun. The common understanding is that pitching wins championships. Southern Miss and Texas State have pitching, but the Golden Eagles are Sun Belt frontrunners. The season ahead will determine if the Bobcats can catch up, or if Southern Miss will separate from the pack. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Though technically the winningest conference in NCAA College World Series history, the Pac-12 has seen only two schools capture the national title in the last decade. The most recent victory—Oregon State’s third national title, earned in 2018—came during then-head coach Pat Casey’s final victory lap with the Beavers, signaling the end of a now-bygone era only five years removed. Admittedly, this may not seem like a long span of time on paper, but it nonetheless begs an inherent question: When will the Pac-12 reclaim its spot as the top conference in college baseball? And, more importantly, which team will be the squad to do it? In 2023, a few early contenders have a shot, with added pressure from dark horses benefiting from low media coverage. Throw new coaches into the mix and pair it with organizational changes within the Pac-12, and this season looks to be one of the most exciting in recent memory. Let’s dive in! High Expectations for Preseason Favorites With Opening Day less than a week away, the Pac-12 has six teams in College Baseball Nation’s Preseason Top 50, the third-most of any conference. But while this feat is impressive, it is easily overshadowed by the team on top: No. 3 Stanford. The defending Pac-12 champion faced a tough reality after the end of the 2022 season, losing five players to the MLB and two fifth-year seniors to the transfer portal. Thankfully, the Cardinal can turn to their deep roster of young faces, grounded by shortstop Tommy Troy, a projected top-10 MLB prospect entering the season. With the ability to play anywhere on the field, the junior used his 2022 successes—including a .399 batting average with 34 runs scored and 23 RBIs—to garner multiple Preseason All-America first-team recognitions for the 2023 campaign, including our Prospect All-America second-team honors. Troy will be supported by an incoming class of nine freshmen and the return of five other players from the team’s 2021 and 2022 trips to the College World Series. “We’ve had good players behind good players behind good players,” head coach David Esquer told The Stanford Daily. “So we’ve got some options even though we lost good players.” The UCLA Bruins have the opportunity to present themselves as another indomitable force within the Pac-12, coming in at No. 9 on our preseason rankings. Offense does not appear to be a concern for head coach John Savage, who will be returning six of the nine returning starters from a 2022 squad that scored 409 runs to their opponents’ 300. The big question-mark is whether the pitching staff, which lost its top three arms to the MLB Draft and the transfer portal, will be able to hold on long enough for their sluggers to work their magic. Notably, Savage is widely regarded as one of the top pitching coaches in the nation, so there’s certainly a high potential for upside on the mound. “We are very traditional in the way we utilize pitchers in games,” Savage told Collegiate Baseball nearly a decade ago, and his approach has not changed since. “We don’t try to reinvent the position. We want to have the best starting pitching in the country and want to have the best bullpen in the nation.” Arizona State (No. 20), Oregon State (No. 25), Arizona (No. 30), and Oregon (No. 34) round out the remainder of our top preseason teams in the Pac-12. New Men at the Helm In addition to the ever-changing rosters of collegiate baseball, two Pac-12 teams will benefit from the addition of new head skippers. Looking to end their dry spell that has kept them from the postseason since 2015, the USC Trojans announced the hiring of Andy Stankiewicz. With seven seasons of professional ball in the MLB under his belt, Stankiewicz employs a hands-on and experienced coaching style that sharply contrasts that of the Trojans’ former head coach, Jason Gill, who led the team to a last-place Pac-12 finish in 2022. The decision to hire Stankiewicz has been widely lauded across college baseball, as the coach has huge momentum after helping Grand Canyon University earn its first-ever D1 regional bid in 2021, which he followed up with the school’s first at-large bid in 2022. With USC’s move to the Big Ten looming, all eyes will be on Stankiewicz to see not only how he manages a roster of players that he didn’t recruit, but also how he prepares for the school’s long-term conference plans. “[Stankiewicz] arrives at USC strongly recommended and respected by members of the baseball community, and we have the utmost confidence that he will elevate our baseball program back to national prominence,” USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn said in the news release announcing Stankiewicz’s hire. Jason Kelly will also return to Washington, with whom he was a pitching and assistant-head coach from 2013–2019. In his original tenure with the Huskies, Kelly’s management of the bullpen developed 15 MLB draft selections, thrusted Washington to a College World Series appearance in 2018, and earned him recognition as Assistant Coach of the Year that same season by D1Baseball. Now, with the freedom to manage the entire Husky roster as he sees fit, Kelly has the opportunity to surprise everyone and begin developing a baseball powerhouse. This will not come without great difficulty, of course—Washington begins its season with eight-straight road games in California—but underdog stories are what make college baseball so exciting. A first-year coach led a bottom-of-the-SEC team to the College World Series just last year, and Kelly has made it clear that he intends to do the same with the Huskies. “This is where I got to cut my teeth, so it’s exciting to be back … in the right Purple and Gold,” Kelly said in a radio segment with DawgmanRadio. “Getting [a head-coach] opportunity has really been a great experience, but we haven’t won a baseball game yet, and that’s ultimately what I’m here for.” Flying Under the Radar At first glance, things could not look worse for Oregon State. The Beavers were unexpectedly upset by Auburn in the super regionals last year before losing 16 players—including the National Pitcher of the Year and Pac-12 Player of the Year—and returning only three starters. Understandably, the buzz surrounding the Beavers has been relatively quiet since. However, I would caution rival schools not to get too excited about this fact. The dynamic infielder duo of Travis Bazzana and Garret Forrester will once again suit up for the Beavers, this time carrying Preseason All-Conference recognition. Both men have the potential to be productive at the plate, each batting over .300 and totalling a combined 110 RBIs in 2022. If they can hold down the core of the batting lineup, it opens the door for incoming freshmen like outfielder Gavin Turley—a 2022 MLB draftee and now-Pac-12 Preseason Freshman of the Year—to fill in the gaps. The team also remains dedicated to a high-speed, analytics-based coaching style, using Hawk-Eye cameras, OptiTrack motion capture, and Statcast data to bring the younger players up to speed more quickly than they might elsewhere. This unknown factor immediately makes Oregon State a threat. Arizona is in a similar position, with many dismissing the Wildcats after losing many of their top players after the end of last season. However, like Oregon State, Arizona will be supplementing these losses with highly touted transfers and incoming freshmen. Junior first baseman Kiko Romero joins the Wildcats hot off a career-defining season with Central Arizona College in which he dominated the plate with a .366 average—and 25 home runs to boot—en route to earning NJCAA World Series MVP accolades. Romero’s offensive potential should pair nicely with the addition of freshman infielder Mason White, the 2022 4A Arizona State Player of the Year, and the retention of senior shortstop Nik McClaughry and his 57 runs scored. With dark horses galore, expect conference play to be as unpredictable as it is bombastic. Off-the-Field Changes There is an argument to be made that the Pac-12, more than any other conference, is working the hardest behind the scenes to ensure its teams are better prepared for long-term success. Last year, we saw the first-ever Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, the conference’s first sponsored championship event since 1978. There, UCLA beat Oregon State in an extra-inning affair, with the eight-team, double-elimination spectacle culminating in an automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the Bruins. The developments will continue in 2023, with the tournament expanding to a nine-team field to complement the new pool-play format. This is hardly an insignificant adjustment, as it provides another team with one final opportunity to impress the Committee in hopes of gaining entry into this year’s NCAA Tournament. “Adding another team allows more Pac-12 programs to experience [the postseason] atmosphere that will put the conference in a more advantageous position when the NCAA Tournament begins,” Esquer told the Pac-12. And, as we saw last year, anything is possible once a team is given the chance to actually compete. Now, it’s time to see which squads rise to the occasion. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The new season is nearly upon us, so it's time for a preseason field of 64 projection. The SEC and ACC lead all conferences with 11 projected teams, followed by the Pac-12 (6) and Big 12 (5). Charlotte, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Old Dominion are the last four teams in, while Alabama, Louisiana, DBU, and UTSA are the first four teams out. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The 2023 college draft crop is shaping up to be an impressive one. College Baseball Nation was on the scene at the Team USA trials last summer in Cary, North Carolina and saw first hand how balanced this year’s draft eligible talent is. For starters, for the first time in literally years, there’s an impressive collection of both pitchers and hitters that will be available in July — however, as has become customary during this era of the Tommy John epidemic, we caution that this could change drastically during the next five months. Though Dylan Crews is viewed in most places as the consensus top draft-eligible collegiate, he will have plenty of competition — and much of it from within the ultra-competitive SEC. Wyatt Langford offers a similar set of tools but with a bit more physicality while Jacob Gonzalez is college baseball’s best all-round shortstop since the Dansby Swanson/Alex Bregman Show nearly a decade ago. And don’t sleep on Jacob Wilson, whose expected uptick in power will compliment his superb hit tool and exquisite glovework. On the pitching side, Chase Dollander, Hurston Waldrep, and Rhett Lowder are all guys who could hear their names called within the first half hour of the draft. Let’s hope they, and all the other big arms, stay healthy, because if they do, the 2023 draft has a chance to be special. Below is a list of the top 50 draft eligible players, a tally we’ll be updating and expanding as the season progresses. Stay tuned because in the coming weeks we’ll be introducing our Freshman All-America teams as well as the Top 50 draft eligible high school players. 1. Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida: Former catcher has enjoyed meteoric rise due to exceptional batted ball data, pitch recognition skills, and ability to play CF. 2. Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee: Lanky righthander’s electric arsenal and expert command make him the best college righty since Gerrit Cole. 3. Dylan Crews, OF, LSU: Complete tool kit and history of success in the SEC make him a no-brainer top-5 pick. 4. Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Ole Miss: Silky smooth 2-way SS has a knack for finding the barrel. 5. Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU: Still must mature physically, but ultra-polished at the plate and projects as well above average at the hot corner. 6. Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon: Best pure hitter in the class added 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason while offering a deluxe defensive package. 7. Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida: Compact power righthander in the Ben Sheets mold. 8. Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt: 80 speed with 80 glove; his ability to impact the baseball has improved steadily. 9. Travis Honeyman, OF, Boston College: Legitimate 5-tool player likely to start his pro career in CF. 10. Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest: Checks all of the boxes to be a future front-of-the-rotation MLB starter, with his change-up garnering special praise. 11. Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU: Physically imposing 6-06/245 2-way player likely has more of a future on the hill. 12. Jack Hurley, OF, Virginia Tech: Despite modest size, posts some of the best batted ball data in the class though he must improve his swing decisions and prove he has a viable future in CF. 13. Tanner Witt, RHP, Texas: Tommy John survivor could shoot up draft boards if he shows well in June pre-draft workouts or makes it to the mound for the Longhorns. 14. Will Sanders, RHP, South Carolina: Lanky hurler who profiles as a durable mid-rotation arm. 15. Matt Shaw, 2B, Maryland: Destroyed pitching in the Cape Cod League last summer and will further improve his draft stock if he defies the odds and proves he can stick at SS. 16. Cade Kuehler, RHP, Campbell: Mature, durable arm who should buzz through the minors. 17. Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest: Physical third baseman who will shoot to the front of this list if he proves he can make better contact against breaking stuff. 18. Teddy McGraw, RHP, Wake Forest: Has been inconsistent, but his mid-90’s heater and 3000-RPM slider portend good things for the New York native. 19. Tommy Troy, 2B, Stanford: Undersized MIF who has done nothing but hit every spring and summer. 20. Nathan Dettmer, RHP, Texas A&M: His fastball approached the century mark this fall, and his slider was just as lethal. 21. Chase Davis, OF, Arizona 22. Jaden Woods, LHP, Georgia 23. Kyle Teel, C, Virginia 24. Jared Dickey, OF/C, Tennessee 25. Maui Ahuna, SS, Tennessee 26. Ross Dunn, LHP, Arizona State 27. Wyatt Crowell, LHP, Florida State 28. Marcus Brown, SS, Oklahoma State 29. Carter Trice, OF/IF, NC State 30. Yohandy Morales, 3B, Miami 31. Patrick Reilly, RHP, Vanderbilt 32. Colton Ledbetter, OF, Mississippi State 33. Kemp Alderman, OF, Ole Miss 34. Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, Arkansas 35. Matthew Etzel, OF, Southern Miss 36. Joseph Gonzalez, RHP, Auburn 37. Juaron Watts-Brown, LHP, Oklahoma State 38. Luke Keaschall, IF/OF, Arizona State 39. Nolan Schanuel, 1B/OF, Florida Atlantic 40. Ryan Lasko, OF, Rutgers 41. Alex Mooney, SS, Duke 42. Jason Savacool, RHP, Maryland 43. Ty Langenberg, RHP, Iowa 44. Jake Cunningham, OF, UNC Charlotte 45. Jake Gelof, 3B, Virginia 46. James McCoy, 3B/OF, Kentucky 47. Jackson Baumeister, RHP, Florida State 48. Carson Montgomery, RHP, Florida State 49. Ryan Bruno, LHP, Stanford 50. Cole Carrigg, SS, San Diego State Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

The ACC continues to be one of the strongest conferences in college baseball sending nine teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. However, the conference has only had one team win the College World Series since 2001. With plenty of contenders in 2023, will this be a marquee year in the ACC? A year ago, Notre Dame was the only ACC team to reach Omaha after their remarkable upset over top ranked Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional. Not long after the Irish exited the College World Series, then their head coach, Link Jarrett, took the same job at another ACC school, Florida State. Last season also saw the rise of potential new power in the ACC in the form of Virginia Tech. The Hokies finished as the top ranked ACC team in 2022 and the number four national seed after going 40-11 (19-9) in the regular season. They advanced to a super regional for the first time in the school’s history where they lost in three games to the eventual College World Series runner-up, Oklahoma. What’s ahead in 2023? The ACC figures to be as deep as ever with nine teams in College Baseball Nation’s Top 50, including six in the top 25. But there are questions about which of those teams has what it takes to compete for a College World Series championship with the likes of some the SEC powerhouses and Stanford. Wake Forest is one of the darlings of the preseason with perhaps one of the best pitching prospects in the country in right-hander Rhett Lowder. The Demon Deacons always bring the thunder at the plate with this group led by first baseman Nick Kurtz and third baseman Brock Wilken who combined for 28 home runs last year. North Carolina won the ACC Tournament last year and should once again be good at the plate with Vance Honeycutt and company. Honeycutt hit 25 home runs as a freshman last year and figures to be one of the first bats taken in the 2024 MLB Draft. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech will be trying to prove they weren’t one-hit wonders in 2022 by following it up with another run to Omaha in 2023. They lose Gavin Cross who became the highest drafted Hokie in school history when he was taken 9th overall last year. But Jack Hurley may not go much further behind, if at all, in this year’s MLB Draft. Despite their losses, Virginia Tech once again has talented position players and pitchers. Louisville, Virginia, Miami, and NC State certainly all have the talent to make some noise and get to Omaha as all of them earned a spot in the preseason top 25. And while it might not happen in 2023, Jarrett figures to have the Seminoles back as a national powerhouse sooner rather than later. The Seminoles feature several high ceiling arms who have yet to produce at the college level, perhaps none more prominent than Carson Montgomery. Top prospects to watch Wake Forest is full of potential draft picks. Outside of Lowder, third baseman Wilken and right-handed pitcher Teddy McGraw are top 50 prospects for this year’s draft, while left-handed pitcher Josh Hartle and Kurtz are considered top picks for the 2024 draft. Lowder is probable to be the first ACC player taken in the upcoming draft – likely somewhere in the middle of the first round. Yohandy Morales will have a strong case as well with a very good bat and strong arm at third base. Morales led Miami in a variety of offensive stats a year ago, including slugging (.532). Virginia Tech’s Hurley leads a group of outfielders that includes Virginia’s Kyle Teel (also plays catcher) and Boston College’s Travis Honeyman. Honeyman hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Eagle, Sal Frelick, who was drafted 15th overall in the 2021 draft. Duke, whose talent level has elevated under head coach Chris Pollard’s tenure, has an interesting shortstop in Alex Mooney who is a draft eligible sophomore that had an impressive record at the plate last year. Series to watch Non-conference play heats up quickly as North Carolina will go to Greenville in week two of the season and face the East Carolina Pirates who rank 17th on our preseason Top 50. That same week, Florida State takes a trip to Fort Worth to face TCU with both teams looking to jump into the top 25. Louisville will represent the ACC in the Shriners Children’s College Classic in week three where they’ll face Texas A&M, TCU, and Michigan. Some of the SEC crossover matchups happen in week three as well with Clemson facing South Carolina, Georgia Tech taking on Georgia, and Miami going up against Florida. The ACC begins conference play earlier than most conferences, starting conference play in week four. Right off the bat, we will see a couple of top 25 matchups with Virginia at North Carolina and NC State at Miami. Intriguingly, Wake Forest might not face their first ranked opponent until March 24 when they host Miami. Attempts to accurately assess Wake forest will be largely speculation until they get into the meat of their conference schedule. If things play out the way we expect, the top two teams in the ACC will face off on April 14 as Louisville hosts Wake Forest. Virginia was the last ACC team to win the College World Series and they always have the talent to make a run. Now that their rival, Virginia Tech, is in the mix it should make their battle in Blacksburg on the weekend of March 31 very entertaining. The Hokies took two out of three games in the 2022 iteration of the rivalry series in Charlottesville. Speaking of rivalries, Florida State and Miami will be playing that same weekend. Final thoughts There is no question that the ACC will feature some of the best teams and some of the best talent in the country as they always do. The question will be can one of those teams reach an elite level and win the College World Series. While Wake Forest seems like the favorite and the most talented team, they’ve had teams with a lot of promise before but couldn’t break through. They have just one Super Regional appearance since 1999 and they haven’t reached Omaha in over 60 years. Will the Deacons be able to handle the pressure of being preseason favorites in the ACC? It will be interesting to see who steps up from that group behind them and makes a run to Omaha like Notre Dame did last year. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

In 2022, the Big 12 was undoubtedly one of college baseball’s most competitive conferences. Week-to-week, nobody had any idea who would beat who or how the standings would look the following Monday. A year later, the same story appears to be forming, though with a new group of stars in the spotlight. Here’s a look at some of the major contenders in the conference as we get within a month of the season’s first pitch, including key non-conference contests, potential impact transfers, and my picks for the league’s players of the year. The favorite: No. 19 Oklahoma State The Cowboys were stellar last season, and despite being eliminated in the first weekend of the tournament in a loss to Arkansas, OSU posted a 42-22 mark, the program’s best mark since 2014. Believe it or not, there is potential for that winning percentage to rise in 2023. Yes, even with the departure of three All-Americans in the power-hitting Griffin Doersching, starting pitcher Justin Campbell, and outfielder Jake Thompson. Six position players are back and each could have a case for being an All-American by the season’s end. There might not be a better two-way player nationally than Nolan McLean, who has a fastball that clocks 100 miles per hour and hit 19 homers as a third baseman in 2022. The entire infield is back, in first baseman David Mendham, second baseman Roc Riggio, shortstop Marcus Brown, and of course, McLean. With Campbell’s departure, the starting rotation is the main question, but head coach Josh Holliday successfully enlisted the services of Long Beach State transfer Juaron Watts-Brown, who put up All-American-type numbers as a freshman last spring. In 12 starts, he was 4-4, with a 3.68 ERA and 111 strikeouts. St. John’s transfer Brian Hendry and BYU transfer Janzen Keisel should add experience and depth to the pitching staff as well, whether they are used in the starting rotation or out of the bullpen. Key non-conference matchup: vs. No. 11 Arkansas (Feb. 19). The field at the Globe Life Showdown was predetermined before last season’s tournament, but it seems very fitting that OSU gets a rematch with the team who ended its 2022 season on its home turf. Arkansas lost a handful of key position players, but brings back a deep pitching staff, which should make for a thrilling matchup. In the hunt: No. 27 TCU TCU is my projected No. 2 finisher in the Big 12, and much like its football team, enjoyed great success a season ago under the direction of a first-year head coach. Kirk Saarloos led his Horned Frogs to a 38-22 record, and while the pitching staff certainly has question marks entering the season, there is a lot to like about TCU in 2023. Five position players are back, including Preseason Prospect All-American Brayden Taylor, who hit .314 with 50 RBIs, and that is a good starting point for a squad that finished second at the College Station Regional last season. The key point to make is that even with those five returners, TCU’s incoming transfers may end up being the stars of the show. Tre Richardson was a first-team All-Big 12 selection as Baylor’s starting shortstop, and opted to remain within the Big 12 as he journeyed to his next destination. He has potential for a breakout campaign as does West Virginia transfer Austin Davis, another first-team All-Big 12 honoree in the outfield. And to cap off the list of inter-conference transfer imports, Ryan Vanderhei, Kansas’ Friday night starter, transferred south from the Sunflower state. Those three transfers bring quality depth, not to mention tremendous talent, to Fort Worth. Vanderhei’s presence should bolster the pitching staff, who loses four key arms in lefty Austin Krob, and righties Marcelo Perez, Brett Walker, and Riley Cornelio. UNC-Wilmington transfer Hunter Hodges should help minimize the losses in the bullpen, as he was an All-CAA reliever in 2022. Key non-conference matchup: at No. 22 Texas State (March 14) : Interestingly enough, the Horned Frogs have not won in San Marcos since 2010, including the 11-1 loss suffered last season to the Bobcats, who made an NCAA Tournament run. Texas State doesn’t have all the key cogs back from last year’s squad, but has quite a few. This matchup comes just a few days before Big 12 play begins against Oklahoma, and could end up being a key result on TCU’s at-large bid resume. In the hunt: No. 24 Texas Tech Is there ever a year that Texas Tech is not “in the hunt?” Under Tim Tadlock, the Red Raiders are 379-194 in the last 10 years, and finished one game shy of a 40-win campaign in 2022. To be perfectly clear, this will be a much different Tech team in terms of the faces at the forefront. All-American power hitter Jace Jung was a first-round draft pick following last year, and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Brandon Birdsell was a fifth-round pick. Second Team All-Big 12 pitcher Andrew Morris is also gone, as is the ever-consistent Kurt Wilson at shortstop. That said, Tim Tadlock has expressed a sense of confidence in the depth of his ballclub including some of the newer faces who are set to emerge. Owen Washburn should make his impact in the lineup after hitting .277 with 48 RBIs as a freshman. His older brother Jack, who threw 40.1 innings with a 3.35 ERA for Ole Miss has transferred into the program. Southpaw Mason Molina posted a 3.90 ERA last season and should be a key part of the regular rotation in 2023. Four position players return, including catcher Hudson White (.260, 6 HR in ‘22), and DH Ty Coleman (.318, 59 RBI in ‘22). As long as the newcomers mesh well, the Red Raiders will be in contention for the league title once again. Key non-conference matchup: vs Texas A&M (March 5): The Aggies went to Omaha last summer after winning five straight NCAA tournament games and appear set up for another postseason run this season, ranked No. 6 by CBN. Facing the Aggies at the Shriners College Classic will be a great opportunity for the Red Raiders to pick up a high-caliber non-conference victory within the first four weeks of the regular season. The wild card: No. 18 Texas The Longhorns represented the Big 12 in last year’s College World Series, finishing seventh in Omaha, but heading into 2023, this is a very different squad. A very young squad. So in many respects, Texas will be somewhat of a wild card in the months to follow. For starters, just two starting position players are back, and only three key pitchers have returned. Outfielders Eric Kennedy and Dylan Campbell along with shortstop Mitchell Daly appear at this time to be the core returners in the lineup, and each of those three made tremendous strides last season, all of whom hit above .265 with at least 29 RBIs in 2022. On the pitching staff, Lucas Gordon might be the best arm in the Longhorns’ rotation, having gone 7-2 with a 3.05 ERA a year ago. Gordon’s presence on this pitching staff will be especially key with All-Big 12 starters Pete Hansen and Tristan Stevens having left for the pro ranks following last year’s run to Omaha. Not only are Hansen and Stevens gone, but so is 2022 Golden Spikes Award Winner Ivan Melendez, who dominated at the plate with 32 home runs. Infielder Murphy Stehly, catcher Silas Ardoin, shortstop Trey Faltine, and third baseman Skyler Messinger have also departed, which will mean a good portion of Texas’ success will be dependent on the newcomers head coach David Pierce has brought in. A few names to keep an eye on are outfielder Porter Brown (TCU transfer), catcher Garrett Guillemette (USC transfer), right-hander Charlie Hurley (USC transfer), reliever Heston Tole (Arkansas transfer). Key non-conference matchup: vs LSU (Feb. 28): The nation’s No. 1 ranked team comes to Austin within the first month of the season, and Texas has an opportunity right out of the gate to make a statement. Even with the key losses from last year’s team, the Longhorns have plenty of firepower on the roster, and with a good performance against LSU’s pitching staff, could come away with a major non-conference victory. Dark horse: No. 39 Oklahoma The Sooners finished tied for second in the league last year, and then proceeded to make an incredible run to the College World Series final, falling to Ole Miss, 2-0. Oklahoma was the surprise of last year, and despite losing a handful of its core position players, including outfielder Tanner Tredaway, the Sooners are in a position to be the dark horse yet again. In terms of returners, five position players are back from the College World Series, led by Jackson Nicklaus, who hit .288 last season, starting 56 games. Those five are in addition to transfer shortstop Dakota Harris, who was a Rawlings Gold Glove winner at Polk State College, where he was also the 2022 co-NJCAA Defensive Player of the Year. On the pitching staff, who knows what the starting rotation looks like, which makes them very unpredictable in the preseason. The only returner who had any real starting experience is redshirt senior Braden Carmichael, who started eight games with an ERA of 9.00 in 2022. However, two incoming transfers do highlight the rotation, in Oklahoma State’s Kale Davis and Lamar’s Braxton Douthit. Oklahoma’s success will be largely dependent upon its ability to mesh in the early part of the year prior to Big 12 play. As the Sooners showed in 2022, sometimes it’s best to be a question mark at the beginning of the year. Nobody quite knows what to expect. Key non-conference matchup: vs No. 3 Stanford (March 30-April 1): This isn’t just one game but rather an entire weekend series at the midpoint of the 2023 campaign. Getting an opponent of Stanford’s quality at home is huge for OU, and by that point in the year, the pitching staff will hopefully be in a consistent spot, allowing the Sooners the potential for a big-time non-conference performance to start the final month of regular season games. Riley’s Players of the Year Picks Position Player of the Year: Brayden Taylor, TCU: Taylor is a CBN Preseason All-American for good reason. A member of USA Baseball’s 2022 Collegiate National Team, Taylor made 58 starts at third base for TCU a year ago, and figures to be at the heart of the Horned Frogs’ lineup in 2023. He posted a team-best .454 on-base percentage, and between his defensive performance (his fielding percentage was .950 in 2022) and consistency at the plate, one could make a very good case for Taylor being the Big 12’s top position player. Pitcher of the Year: Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State: It might seem odd to peg an incoming transfer as a potential Pitcher of the Year, but Watts-Brown might end up being the best pitcher the league has in 2023. A tremendous amount of turnover was seen on pitching staffs across the league, and Watts-Brown has two things that I really like in terms of projecting his numbers for this spring, the first being that last season was his first seeing actual game action at the collegiate level (though he did redshirt in 2021) and oftentimes, a tremendous amount of growth happens after that first season of experience. Secondly, he has four high-level pitches, which led to the 111 strikeouts at LBSU last year (those 111 would’ve ranked fourth in the Big 12 in 2022). He utilizes his fastball, slider, curve, and changeup especially well, attacking the zone at various points. He just might be the arm that leads OSU to Omaha. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

One of the premier mid-major conferences in the nation, the Sun Belt has plenty of contenders heading into 2023, but how will the addition of Southern Miss and James Madison affect the conference? Here is a look at four teams to keep an eye on heading into the upcoming spring, who will factor into the conference title race. Southern Miss, newcomer and favorite The Sun Belt looks quite a bit different in terms of structure and strength as a mid-major conference heading into the 2023 season. That is because Southern Miss, a traditional powerhouse who has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six seasons, is now part of the league. Despite being new to the league, No. 8 Southern Miss is also the perceived preseason favorite. (RELATED: Preseason Top 50) Under longtime head coach Scott Berry, the Golden Eagles were 47-19 a year ago. Despite some notable departures on the pitching staff in closer Landon Harper, starter Hunter Riggins and reliever Hurston Waldrep, Southern Miss is poised for another tournament run. The pitching staff will need to find a closer to replace the clockwork-like Harper, whose consistency resulted in 12 saves a year ago. On paper, Southern Miss has at least a few options within the group of five transfers, one being Nebraska transfer Tyler Martin, who had a team-high 20 saves for the Huskers a year ago. But then you look at the returners. Righty Tanner Hall posted All-American-type numbers on the mound in 2022, posting a 2.81 ERA and 148 strikeouts as a sophomore. He will form the centerpiece of the pitching staff. In the lineup, there is a slew of bats that will make the Golden Eagles tough for opposing pitchers to beat. Slade Wilks was exceptional, mostly in a designated hitter role last season, hitting .288 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs. He has a powerful bat in the middle of the order, as does first baseman Chris Sargent, who swatted 21 home runs a year ago. Carson Paetow is experienced as the starting right fielder, and hit .271 in 2022. Dustin Dickerson has the speed to be a top-of-the-order bat for Berry’s squad, along with an ability to hit for contact (.320 BA in ‘22). In total, seven position player starters are back, which will undoubtedly help the Golden Eagles in the Sun Belt title race. Key non-conference matchup: at No. 5 Ole Miss (March 7). Southern Miss always schedules well and has matchups with Mississippi State, Alabama, and Louisiana Tech all scheduled. But the March duel in Oxford at No. 5 Ole Miss rises to another level. This is probably the toughest challenge USM will have this season, considering Ole Miss’ firepower. A Tuesday night matchup will have the feel of a super regional. Georgia Southern, in the hunt Georgia Southern finished second in the league title race a year ago at 23-7 and is in prime position to finish in the top half of the conference once again. Four of Georgia Southern’s top five hitters from last season have returned, including power hitter Noah Ledford, who hit .348 with 17 homers, 19 doubles, and 70 RBIs in 2022. Ledford’s return for his senior year will be key, as will the presence of leadoff hitter Jesse Sherill, who hit a team-best .361 in 56 starts last season. Consistent production out of the lineup is going to be a primary objective for the Eagles, though they do have a few solid arms who will go toe-to-toe with the Sun Belt’s best. Ty Fisher is likely the best arm Georgia Southern has, having posted a 6-2 record with a 2.58 ERA in 87.1 innings. A starter, he is likely in line to be GSU’s go-to in Friday night contests. Coming out of the bullpen, southpaw Jay Thompson returns for his senior season after leading the team in appearances last year, with 37. Outside of that duo, there is not quite as much depth on the pitching staff as one would like, though Jaylen Paden returns after making 14 starts with a 5.30 ERA in 2022, and righty reliever Jake Martin is back for his junior year after 27 appearances out of the bullpen a year ago. Key non-conference matchup: vs No. 35 Georgia (March 7): These two teams will meet twice, playing at Georgia later in the month, but this has a different feel to it, being that it is a neutral site game, part of the slate of SRP College Baseball Showcase games in 2023. Not only is Georgia looking solid in the SEC conversation this year, but this is also a battle between in-state schools separated by 165 miles. Pitching depth, especially a few days after a road weekend series at UCF, might be the biggest difference in this matchup . Texas State, also in the hunt The Bobcats won the league a year ago, and nearly shocked Stanford on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Super Regional round. Texas State is in a bit of a different position this year, but still very much in the running in the Sun Belt, with a group of solid returnees. The main departure was reliever Tristan Stivors, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox following last season. Stivors had 32 appearances and a 7-1 record, so he certainly leaves behind a hole in the Bobcat bullpen. In the starting rotation though, Zeke Wood and Levi Wells, Texas State’s Friday and Saturday starters, respectively, are both back with another year under their belts. Wells had the top ERA of any starter on the staff (3.07), going 8-3 in 16 starts. Wood also started 16 games and was the only pitcher to strike out 100 batters for the Bobcats last season. In the lineup, the name to know is Jose Gonzalez. An outfielder who was named to the All-Stanford Regional team in last year’s national tournament, Gonzalez enters his junior year after hitting .298 with 60 RBIs a year ago. He will be a focal point of the lineup, though pay attention to infielder and Baylor transfer Alex Gonzales as well. He started 29 games for the Bears in 2022. Key non-conference matchup; No. 18 Texas (April 10-11): A set of games that have attracted great attention in recent years, the close proximity between the two programs allows a game, in this year’s case, to be played on Monday night in San Marcos, followed by another on Tuesday night in Austin. Each hosts one game, and it gives the feel of a weekend series to a midweek matchup. These are also two games that could boost Texas State’s tournament resume if the Bobcats do end up competing for an at-large bid. Coastal Carolina, the wild card Still the only Sun Belt program to win a national title (though they won their title as members of the Big South), Coastal Carolina is in the hunt once again for the conference championship, after finishing third in the league standings in 2022. Senior outfielder Graham Brown looks to be the focal point of Chanticleers’ lineup, having hit .302 with 43 RBIs in 46 starts last season. His experience level will be key, especially as the team’s top two hitters from 2022 (Tyler Johnson and Eric Brown) have since moved up to the professional ranks. In fact, Brown is one of just three position player returners who started in at least 30 games last season, making Coastal Carolina very much on the border of being a team that could either surprise or underperform, depending on how quickly the young talent on the roster gets settled. The same could be said for the pitching staff, who saw all three of its weekend starters graduate. Junior southpaw Bryce Shaffer, though a transfer, will almost certainly be in line for a spot in the weekend rotation, after making 13 starts at South Florida State College last spring. Shaffer, who honed his talents in the Cape Cod League this past summer, has great accuracy on his pitches, and struck out 84 batters in 71.2 innings pitched for SFSC. Out of the bullpen, another transfer looking to have an impact is Clemson transfer Alex Edmondson, who was 2-0 in 11 relief appearances for the Tigers in 2022. Opponents hit just .222 against him, and he could have a breakout year for the Chanticleers. Key non-conference matchup: No. 15 North Carolina (March 28, May 16): For mid-major programs, these midweek duels, especially when they are played at home, can be huge. At-large bids are hard to come by at times in mid-major conferences like the Sun Belt, but Coastal Carolina’s two matchups against UNC should help their case if they find themselves in the at-large conversation. The question will simply be if they have enough pitching to go toe-to-toe against the Tar Heels in a midweek duel. Depth will shine The Sun Belt will once again show off its depth as a litany of teams not already mentioned should be in competition for NCAA Tournament berths. Louisiana, South Alabama, Troy, and Georgia State all finished at or above .500 in conference play last year. Louisiana with their 19 Sun Belt wins a year ago will certainly be in the running for the Sun Belt title in 2023. Projected Players of the Year Pitcher of the Year: RHP Tanner Hall, Southern Miss: Hall is the centerpiece of Southern Miss’ starting rotation and figures to build on what was already a strong sophomore season. His 146-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio was perhaps the most impressive aspect of his ability to attack on the mound a year ago, and with a similar kind of number in 2023, his ERA will stay low as well. Hall’s ability to make batters swing and miss was put on display with the USA Baseball Collegiate National team this summer, as he came up with a handful of key strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Cuba. If Southern Miss ends up winning the Sun Belt when this season is all said and done, Hall will have plenty to do with it. Position Player of the Year: 1B Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern: There are some excellent offensive players in the league entering 2023, but Ledford has just the right balance of power and contact in his approach at the plate. A redshirt senior, Ledford’s impact for Georgia Southern will be critical this season especially, considering the level of collegiate experience he brings to the lineup, combined with the limited pitching depth it appears the squad has, at least evaluating things from a preseason standpoint. He had an on-base percentage of .444 and a slugging percentage of .665, near or at the top of both categories amongst regulars in the lineup a year ago. There are plenty of contact hitters likely to hit ahead of him in the lineup, which should lead to RBI opportunities. Ledford’s final collegiate season is gearing up to be his best. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

Since the 2009 season an SEC team has won the College World Series eight times — what might be even more impressive is that six different SEC teams have won the College World Series over that span. But it goes beyond that, in just the last two years alone all but two teams (Kentucky and Missouri) have made an NCAA Tournament appearance. And if you go back to 2012, every SEC team has made the tournament over that time. Dating back to 2008, 11 of the 14 teams in the SEC have reached the College World Series at least once. Only Kentucky, Missouri, and Alabama have failed to do so during that time. In the past two seasons, the SEC has seen two of the most dominant regular season teams in college baseball history with Arkansas in 2021 and Tennessee in 2022. Both of them had to witness another SEC team taking the ultimate crown with Mississippi State winning 2021 and Ole Miss this past season. So who will it be this time? What’s ahead in 2023? The conference is once again stacked at the top of the rankings with seven teams ranked in the top 13 of the College Baseball Nation Preseason Top 50. LSU appears to be the most complete team in the country on paper with Dylan Crews leading the lineup and a handful of frontline starting pitchers with Paul Skenes, Thatcher Hurd, Ty Floyd, and Grant Taylor. Not to mention they got the big bat of Tommy White in the transfer portal along with Christian Little to make their rotation even deeper. But don’t count out Tennessee who is looking to finish off what they couldn’t last season. Chase Dollander figures to be the first pitcher taken in the 2023 MLB Draft, and he headlines what might be the best rotation in college baseball with Chase Burns and Drew Beam behind him. You can’t count out the defending champs in Ole Miss who have a talented lineup returning led by top prospect Jacob Gonzalez at shortstop. The Aggies made a surprise run to Omaha last year and return a big portion of their lineup as well as Nathan Dettmer on the mound. Florida hasn’t made it past a regional since 2018, but they looked poised to do so in 2023 with a Player of the Year candidate in Wyatt Langford. And don’t forget about Arkansas and Vanderbilt who don’t have the elite depth they’re accustomed to having, but there’s still plenty of talent there. As far as some dark horse contenders, Auburn, Alabama, and South Carolina all have some elite talent at the front of their weekend rotations with Grayson Hitt (Alabama), Joseph Gonzalez (Auburn), and Will Sanders (South Carolina). If they can build around those pieces with players brought in through the portal they could certainly make some noise this year. And while it was a disastrous season for Mississippi State in 2022, they’re looking forward to putting that behind them in 2023. Top prospects to watch With great teams comes great players and there are plenty of top prospects to watch this season. Crews, Dollander, Jacob Gonzalez, Langford, Enrique Bradfield Jr., Sanders, and Skenes all earned preseason prospect all-American accolades. Brandon Sproat from Florida is another pitcher who has the ability to take a big step forward in 2023 and move up the draft boards. Sticking with the Gators, Josh Rivera has a chance to really have a breakout season with the bat – he’s always had a nice glove – and rise up draft boards as well becoming one of the best college shortstops in the class. But if there are two players you need to go out and try to see in person this year, it’s Crews and Dollander. Both are incredibly rare talents who figure to have great success at the next level. Series to Watch The SEC is always a part of a couple of big early season tournaments. Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Missouri will be part of the College Baseball Showdown in the opening weekend facing off against Big 12 opponents TCU, Oklahoma State, and Texas. Things don’t slow down in the second weekend of the season with Vanderbilt playing a series against UCLA, Mississippi State taking on Arizona State, and Ole Miss playing Maryland. In week three you have your regular ACC-SEC rivalry series with Georiga-Georgia Tech, Clemson-South Carolina, and Miami-Florida. But you also have Texas A&M in the Shriners College Classic where they will face Louisville, Rice, and Texas Tech. There are typically a few ranked matchups every week in the SEC, and sometimes multiple top 10 matchups. Perhaps the headline matchup of the year will be on the seventh weekend (March 31-April 2) when LSU and Tennessee meet in Alex Box Stadium. That will be must-see for every college baseball fan in the country. You never want to miss a rivalry series, but how could you miss watching the past two National Champions face off? Ole Miss will be going to Mississippi State April 14-16 with the most recent bragging rights. Texas A&M has to face LSU, Tennessee, and Ole Miss in their first three conference series – playing in the SEC ain’t easy. Another rivalry series that can’t be missed right now is Tennessee-Vanderbilt. This edition will take place in front of a wild set of fans in Knoxville April 21-23. Final Thoughts Last year we wondered at times if the SEC was having a down year or if all of the teams were just that good and kept beating up on each other. It turned out the latter was true with four teams making it to Omaha. Also, a team that finished with a losing conference record and was one of the last four teams to get into the NCAA Tournament won it all. The unfortunate reality of the SEC is that somebody has to lose. This conference looks loaded once again as all of these teams are talented enough to be considered one of the 64 best teams in the country. But only one of them can finish on top, and the odds are that it will be a team from the SEC once again. Will it be the overwhelming favorite in LSU, or will another team that gets forgotten during the season make a late push and surprise everyone? That’s what makes the journey of a baseball season so exciting, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!

For one last year, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) remains intact with the same eight schools it fielded in 2022, but at the conclusion of the 2023 season, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF will depart the AAC for the Big 12 and a new era will begin. Let’s dive into what promises to be an intriguing last year for several AAC teams. 2022 in the rearview East Carolina won 20 games in AAC play in 2022 to win the regular season, six games better than UCF and seven games better than Houston. When the conference teams clashed in Clearwater in the final week of May, Houston advanced to the championship final by winning 3-of-4 games, including a split with UCF. The Cougars ran out of arms in the championship game and East Carolina rolled to another conference championship title and held The American’s single spot in the NCAA playoffs. East Carolina earned a national seed at No. 8 and ultimately advanced to a Super Regional, where they hosted Texas. Despite jumping out to a 1-0 series lead, the Pirates could not close the deal as Texas rallied late to win game two and then the Longhorns destroyed the Pirates in a deciding game with multiple rain delays to advance to the College World Series. In July, fourteen players were drafted from the conference. 2023: the same but different While the same eight teams return for 2023, three of the teams have new, or nearly new, head coaches from the beginning of the 2022 season. Memphis is under the guidance of a new head coach for the first time in 19 years as Kerrick Jackson replaces the retired Daron Schoenrock. In New Orleans, Jay Uhlman, who replaced Travis Jewett at Tulane late in the 2022 regular season, returns to begin his first full season as head coach. Finally, Eric Wedge departed from Wichita State in late October leaving the Shockers scrambling. Loren Hibbs will coach the team this spring with an interim tag by his name. But the constant in the AAC remains Cliff Godwin's squad at East Carolina. East Carolina is ranked No. 17 in the College Baseball Nation Preseason Top 50 and is the sole representative from the AAC in the poll. The Pirates were chosen to win the conference in the preseason conference coaches poll and it is hard to argue with that. East Carolina only lost one roster player from 2022 to the draft in July. The result of this is that many of the young players that led the Pirates a season ago will return for 2023. Starting pitcher Carter Spivey went 8-0 last season with a 2.83 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings pitched on his way to be named the AAC Pitcher of the Year. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart returns to Greenville after a stellar freshman season where he batted .330 with 65 RBI and 13 home runs. Jenkins-Cowart was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 AAC Championship, leading the Pirates with five hits, three home runs, and ten runs driven in. Jenkins-Cowart will be joined by returning stars Lane Hoover, Cam Clonch, Alec Makarewicz, Garrett Saylor, and Jacob Starling to help solidify the loaded lineup. The Fight for the Second Spot The same coaches poll that put East Carolina as the favorite, has Houston and UCF standing alone in the next tier with Houston as a slight favorite. Houston will have a tough rebuild of its pitching staff losing their Friday night starter to the draft, along with their dominant closer and one of their top long relievers. Two more pitchers transferred out. Houston also lost the services of slugger Ryan Hernandez who graduated and has no eligibility left. Though looking for a replacement for Hernandez at first base, Houston has solid players returning at the other three infield positions, including all-everything shortstop Ian McMillan. Behind the plate, Anthony Tulimero returns for one more season. The biggest question will be who takes the mound for the Cougars. For the second season in a row, Houston is likely to send pitchers to the mound to open the season and develop a rotation later as conference play approaches. UCF, which finished second in the AAC regular season last year, lost three players to the draft in July, but they have two top pitchers returning in 2023. Starting pitcher Ben Vespi and relief pitcher Kyle Kramer headline the Knights pitching staff and both have received preseason recognition within the conference. Vespi made nine starts in 2022 and picked up two saves while posting a 3.56 ERA. He averaged a strikeout per inning with 66 in 65 2/3 innings pitched. Kramer pitched in 23 games last season and struck out 50 batters in 39 innings with a 3.69 ERA. Having two proven and recognized arms to bookend the pitching staff as the season opens is a huge advantage. When The Fun Begins East Carolina will open the conference schedule on the road at Houston on March 31 and hosts UCF the next weekend. The Pirates will have the opportunity to deliver a deafening blow to the conference before facing the rest of the league. Alternatively, Houston or UCF could shake things up and expose any weaknesses East Carolina might have and set the pace for what could be a closer contest to close out this era of AAC play. Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!