It’s Valentine’s Day, and as a substitute of being out in town together with your beloved, you’re sitting on the couch bingewatching the newest installment of a streaming leisure establishment. Not the brand new season of Love is Blind; the brand new season of faculty baseball.
Baseball is like soccer and basketball, in that a big a part of the enchantment of the faculty recreation is its abundance. Not each recreation is value watching, however with some 300 Division I colleges to select from, there’s a great probability that someplace on the market, there’s a detailed recreation within the backside of the ninth, or a pitchers’ duel between high prospects, or a rivalry matchup with postseason implications. It’s borderline-impossible to recollect the names of all 300 groups, a lot much less any helpful details about them. So within the curiosity of effectivity, listed here are seven colleges I’ll have my eye on this season, as a result of I feel they’ll have an outsize affect on the form of this season as a complete.
Oregon State
I’m not going to say that is essentially the most excited I’ve ever been for a school crew, ever. But it surely’s essentially the most excited I’ve been for a school crew with out a number of contenders for the no. 1 general choose, just like the Kumar Rocker/Jack Leiter Vandy crew, or Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews at LSU.
That’s as a result of Oregon State’s 2025 schedule is essentially the most fascinating artifact of the football-inspired convention realignment of the previous few years. In the event you had been selecting colleges from the previous Pac-12 primarily based on relevance for soccer or basketball, Oregon State would’ve been at or close to the underside. However for baseball, I don’t know that there’s a case for every other program.
The Beavers have gained three nationwide titles up to now 20 years, greater than every other program within the nation; all different non-SEC groups put collectively have 5. They produced two of the previous six no. 1 general picks — Adley Rutschman and Travis Bazzana — and 5 different first-round picks up to now eight drafts. They’re the Alabama soccer of the Pacific Northwest.
And but, when the music stopped on convention realignment, Oregon State was left with out a chair. With solely Washington State left within the convention, Oregon State is a de facto impartial.
Meaning one of many premier packages in school baseball is taking part in a barnstorming schedule, just like the Ruppert Mundys of Philip Roth’s The Nice American Novel. Which comes with its personal challenges; in school baseball, non-conference play is often confined to midweek video games and the primary three or 4 weekends of the 12 months. That presents a major problem for a crew trying to discover weekend dance companions in April and Might. Particularly contemplating that Corvallis is method up in a faraway nook of the nation. (It’s not East Coast bias if a lot of the nation lives out right here.)
Nonetheless, Oregon State made it work. The Beavers are taking part in tournaments in Arizona and Texas in opposition to premier competitors the primary three weekends of the season. From then on, they’ve obtained a fairly attention-grabbing set of sequence, largely in opposition to Huge Ten and Huge West competitors — two of the stronger conferences you’ll discover outdoors the SEC and ACC. Plus a three-way swimming meet-style occasion with Grand Canyon and Santa Clara.
I’m largely excited about how the Beavs fare, as a result of that is unprecedented. A lot of the NCAA Match dialogue facilities on power of convention; how will the committee take into account a crew that’s been fully decontextualized?
But additionally, this can be a good crew, full cease. I stated there’s no candidate for the no. 1 general choose right here, however even after shedding Bazzana, Oregon State’s infield has a pair potential Day 1 picks. There’s 6-foot-5-inch Washington switch Aiva Arquette, who could possibly be both Bazzana’s direct alternative at second base or an impression two-way shortstop. Then there’s third baseman Trent Caraway, who final 12 months suffered a season-ending damaged finger on a bunt try (by no means bunt!) however got here again to mild up the Cape. Now a draft-eligible sophomore, Caraway’s bat might carry him into the primary couple rounds if he reveals enchancment on protection.
Texas A&M
A&M dropped a heartbreaking three-game Faculty World Collection remaining to Tennessee final 12 months and obtained decimated by the draft. They misplaced high hitter Braden Montgomery (final seen because the secondary piece within the Garrett Crochet commerce) and Swiss Military knife reliever Chris Cortez within the first two rounds. Then there was the weirdness with their coach.
Jim Schlossnagle constructed TCU right into a nationwide title contender over twenty years in Fort Value, then jumped to Texas A&M in 2021, and led the Aggies to Omaha twice in three seasons, culminating in final June’s journey to the title sequence. I’ll simply lay out what occurred subsequent in timeline type.
- Monday, June 24: Texas fires head coach David Pierce. Texas A&M loses the ultimate recreation of the Faculty World Collection. After the sport, reporter Richard Zane asks Schlossnagle if he had curiosity within the Texas job. A clumsy context for the query, however provided that Texas’ athletic director had beforehand labored with Schlossnagle at TCU, and that Schlossnagle had been linked to the Texas job in 2016, it needed to be requested. Schlossnagle scolds stated reporter for asking a “egocentric” query.
- Tuesday, June 25: Schlossnagle takes the Texas job.
- Wednesday, June 26: Schlossnagle apologizes at his introductory presser in Austin. Aggies followers, hardly recognized for his or her equanimity in the perfect of occasions, don’t take it nicely. Right here’s a TexAgs column from that day, titled “Schlossnagle tops listing of traitors after deceptive A&M earlier this week.” The primary phrase of the lede is “Judas.”
- Sunday, June 30: A&M pronounces that hitting coach Michael Earley, beforehand reported to be following Schlossnagle to Texas, is definitely staying in Faculty Station to develop into the Aggies’ head coach. Lol, j/ok, sorry for the confusion.
- Wednesday, July 24: Ace left-handed pitcher Ryan Prager makes a stunning announcement that he’s coming again to campus for his junior season. The Angels, who had additionally drafted Cortes, took Prager within the third spherical, as he was simply the form of high-floor, fast-moving school prospect they appear to love. However apparently the sensation was not mutual. Within the 20-round draft period, virtually each participant indicators; Prager was the third-highest drafted prospect general — and the one school participant within the first eight rounds — who declined to go professional.
That’s extra pleasure within the house of a month than most packages have in a decade. Greater than that — and thanks partially to Prager’s return — this is perhaps the perfect crew within the nation. D1Baseball, Baseball America, and the USA In the present day coaches’ ballot all have A&M because the preseason no. 1-ranked crew.
I’m not fully satisfied, however I’ll say that if I needed to wager now, I might put cash on junior outfielder Jace LaViolette going first general within the draft this July. LaViolette is a 6-foot-6, 230 pound monolith of an outfielder, who stands out even on a roster full of fellows who appear like they spend their complete NIL checks shopping for steaks in bulk at Costco. LaViolette has hit 50 house runs in simply 132 profession school video games, and he might find yourself placing up numbers that make Charlie Condon appear like Jake Mangum. No crew within the nation has extra beef, in both sense of the phrase.
Virginia
Once I was assembling my listing of groups to jot down about, I made notes on numerous contenders. Right here’s what I wrote about Virginia, in complete: “Monster, monster, monster offense.”
Final 12 months, the Cavaliers hit .333/.425/.567 as a crew. Amongst energy convention colleges, they had been first in runs per recreation and third in slugging share. And even powerful the Cavaliers misplaced 4 place gamers to the draft — together with first-round shortstop Griff O’Ferrall — their high 4 beginning place gamers in slugging share are all coming again. That’s second baseman Henry Godbout, catcher Jacob Ference, outfielder Harrison Didawick, and first baseman Henry Ford.
Ford is the archetypal native child made good, a Charlottesville native and nephew of a former UVA participant, and he made a direct impression in his first 12 months on campus. He had 31 extra-base hits in 61 video games, all begins, and within the course of broke Mark Reynolds’ freshman house run document.
Virginia constructed a fame for nice run prevention within the 2010s; that’s slipping considerably. Final 12 months, that they had a crew ERA of 5.39, which isn’t excellent even in an offense-friendly school atmosphere. However Evan Blanco — the one Virginia starter to outlive within the rotation all 12 months — returns, as does former quarterback Jay Woolfolk, who was nice within the first two rounds of the NCAA Match. Becoming a member of them on the workers is Chris Arroyo, who involves UVA from Florida by means of junior school, as he seeks to make his mark not simply as a left-handed pitcher however as a two-way participant.
I anticipate this to be one of many longest lineups and one of many highest-scoring groups within the ACC, if not your complete nation. And if the pitching is even first rate, a 3rd straight journey to Omaha ought to solely be the start.
Indiana
Standard knowledge appears to be that Indiana’s going to complete second or third within the Huge Ten, which is what they often do. However I’m highlighting the Hoosiers for 2 causes. First, outfielder Devin Taylor is the perfect school prospect within the Midwest. In 114 school video games, Taylor has hit .338/.441/.655 with 36 house runs; final season he walked virtually as a lot as he struck out.
The Hoosiers often have good athletes, however translating expertise to skilled efficiency has been a wrestle. Their final first-round choose was Kyle Schwarber in 2014, from a crew that additionally featured huge leaguers Sam Travis and Scott Effross. (One other of Schwarber’s school teammates, pitcher Kyle Hart, simply signed with the Padres after a formidable 12 months in Korea.) Since then, not a lot. Taylor might break that streak if he performs himself into the center of the primary spherical.
The second purpose I’m highlighting Indiana is my one sizzling take for the faculty season, my one prediction that I’m going out on a limb for and will find yourself making me look foolish. Faculty baseball is chaotic sufficient even should you don’t go on the lookout for contrarian opinions.
With the dissolution of the Pac-12, 4 of that league’s refugees are headed for the Huge Ten: Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington. Inside the previous 15 seasons, UCLA has been to the nationwide championship sequence twice, successful as soon as. The Bruins have been the no. 1 general seed within the NCAA Match inside the previous 10 years. Southern Cal is essentially the most profitable program in Division I historical past; each colleges have probably the most talent-rich areas of the nation of their yard. Washington’s been to the Faculty World Collection extra not too long ago than any legacy Huge Ten crew besides Michigan. Oregon has made the NCAA Match in each full season beneath present head coach Mark Wasikowski, and hosted a regional in three of these 4 years. The Geese are the consensus finest crew within the Huge Ten; they’re twelfth within the nation within the D1Baseball preseason rating and nineteenth within the Baseball America rating.
Right here’s my sizzling take: All of those groups, besides perhaps Oregon, are going to get smoked of their new convention.
It’s not all in regards to the climate, nevertheless it’s partly in regards to the climate. USC’s first three convention street sequence are at Michigan, at Indiana, and at Penn State. UCLA performs at Maryland the primary weekend in March. And taking part in up north later within the season, or avoiding the Michigan States and Minnesotas, solely helps a lot.
In a few of these locations, that lovely temperate Midwestern summer season climate doesn’t present up till after the faculty baseball season ends. I’ve seen a snowout in Columbus the final weekend in March, and a tornado-out in Champaign in June. Most Huge Ten baseball stadiums have synthetic turf fields so you possibly can squeegee the snow off the diamond earlier than the sport. Southern California youngsters who put on hoodies when it’s 80 levels out are going to have a tough time gripping the ball.
Extra to the purpose, lots of Huge Ten packages — together with however not restricted to Indiana — have spent the previous decade constructing glowing new services and making splashy teaching hires. Penn State, which has one NCAA Match look since 1976, virtually made a regional final 12 months. That’s how aggressive issues have gotten.
Of the 4 ex-Pac-12 groups, Oregon’s the one one which’s made any hay the previous few seasons, regardless of quickly weakening competitors in that dying convention. All of it reeks of complacency, and I feel the West Coast colleges are in for a more durable take a look at than they notice.
UC Santa Barbara
Within the twenty first century, California’s sprawling public college system has picked up the torch the place the 2 huge Los Angeles soccer colleges have dropped it, turning the Huge West into top-of-the-line mid-major baseball conferences on the market. At one time or one other, Cal State Fullerton or UC Irvine or Lengthy Seashore State has run the present, however UC Santa Barbara sits atop the pile for the time being.
Head coach Andrew Checketts is in his 14th season on the helm, and his hallmark is pitching. The Gauchos’ had their first nice run a decade in the past, when future no. 4 general choose Dillon Tate led the crew to its first regional internet hosting alternative in 2015. The subsequent 12 months, after Tate went professional, UCSB made its first and thus far solely journey to Omaha behind ace Shane Bieber. Marvel no matter occurred to him.
The Gauchos gained each the common season and match Huge West titles in 2024, and enter 2025 with Tyler Bremner, a possible top-10 choose, main the rotation. Bremner is a typical Checketts protégé, with a free, low-effort supply, good command, and a number of efficient secondaries, together with a depraved changeup. The bullpen, a serious power in 2024, returns sophomore left-hander Cole Tryba. The preseason All-American struck out 65 batters in 47 innings final 12 months, getting 4 or extra outs in 19 of his 27 appearances.
Whether or not the Gauchos emerge because the nation’s finest crew outdoors the Energy 4 conferences relies upon largely on the offense, which is a complete query mark for the time being. The Gauchos are turning over two-thirds of their beginning place participant group, with no fewer than eight place participant transfers becoming a member of the crew for this season. Too unhealthy they’ll’t make a commerce with UVA.
Troy
Relating to school baseball, I’m an unabashed SEC chauvinist. Sorry, I watch the Faculty World Collection yearly, and 5 completely different SEC groups have gained it all of the previous 5 years. Solely three non-SEC groups have even made it to the ultimate since 2017, and a kind of — Oklahoma — simply joined the convention this 12 months.
Lurking within the footprint of the SEC is its little brother, the Solar Belt, which has its personal proud historical past of excellence: Southern Mississippi is on a run of eight straight NCAA Match appearances. Coastal Carolina is the final mid-major crew to win all of it. And it’s getting crowded on the high. The preseason Solar Belt coaches’ ballot had 4 groups with a number of first-place votes, with the highest three separated by simply 5 factors.
So let’s discuss Troy. One in every of my favourite NCAA Match archetypes is the tremendous annoying no. 2 seed. The regional host is available in with all of the hype, perhaps with some heavy draft prospects, after which it will get snookered by a non-Energy 4 membership that simply gained’t cease grinding at-bats and dropping in well timed hits. Troy is my early nominee to fill that position.
Fourth-year head coach Skylar Meade is a former pitching coach at South Carolina and Michigan State. His pitching workers returns 4 of the highest pitchers from final 12 months when it comes to innings, together with eight transfers. However the offense ought to drive the crew. Junior catcher Brooks Bryan returns to the lineup after a monster sophomore 12 months by which he drove in a very astonishing 85 runs in solely 58 video games. Middle fielder Shane Lewis was the Solar Belt Participant of the Yr in 2023, however had a brutal 2024, by which he hit simply .176 in 32 video games, however he’s anticipated to be again to type this 12 months.
After which there’s newcomer Blake Cavill, a primary baseman from Australia who’s had an itinerant school profession: Northwest Florida State, Western Kentucky, and now Troy. You’ll be able to in all probability guess what haircut he has. Extra to the purpose, Cavill will get on base: He walked 43 occasions in opposition to simply 31 strikeouts in 58 video games at WKU, and posted a .443 OBP. In 19 video games on the Cape final 12 months, he walked 16 extra occasions.
The Trojans’ nonconference schedule consists of video games in opposition to Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State (logically sufficient for a crew from Alabama), plus an early-season weekend sequence in opposition to a difficult Penn crew. Ought to Troy make it into the postseason, it’ll arrive with loads of big-game expertise.
Florida State
If I had been inclined to lean into my SEC chauvinism, I’d joke that there’s one more mid-major convention that shares the SEC’s footprint: the ACC. However I’m not so inclined, so I gained’t make the joke. Nonetheless the ACC has gained only one Faculty World Collection title since 1955, a stat that in all probability stings deepest in Tallahassee. The Seminoles spent 40 years beneath the tutelage of legendary head coach Mike Martin, who coached 4 Golden Spikes winners and quite a few first-round picks, and retired because the winningest Division I school baseball coach in historical past. However he by no means gained the natty.
In 2022, Florida State employed certainly one of Martin’s former gamers, Hyperlink Jarrett, who’d made it to the tremendous regional and the Faculty World Collection, respectively, in his first two tries as head coach at Notre Dame. After a tough first season with the Noles, Jarrett’s membership gained 49 video games in 2024 and made it to the nationwide semifinal. That’s Florida State’s finest win complete and furthest development within the NCAA Match since 2012.
I’m usually of the opinion that in school baseball, pitching — particularly pitching depth — wins championships. And the Seminoles have a lot of it, beginning with the weekend rotation, which can be made up completely of left-handed pitchers from Tampa Jesuit Excessive Faculty, Jarrett introduced this week. You may already know Jamie Arnold, a 6-foot-1 lefty with a cool low three-quarters supply. Final 12 months, Arnold struck out 159 batters, greater than anybody in Division I aside from Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, who simply occurred to be the primary two pitchers chosen in final 12 months’s draft. Count on Arnold to get drafted in roughly the identical place.
Two of Arnold’s highschool teammates, Wes Mendes and Joey Volini, transferred to FSU this offseason, and can take up the opposite two rotation spots. Volini is a redshirt junior who spent three years at South Florida, certainly one of them on the bench whereas recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure. Mendes, a sophomore, was a extremely touted highschool prospect who couldn’t put it collectively in his single season at Ole Miss.
The longer Florida State stays within the championship hunt, the stronger this rotation stands to get. In the beginning of final 12 months, the Seminoles’ Friday evening starter was not Arnold however Cam Leiter. (Sure, of the New Jersey Leiter pitching dynasty. He’s the nephew of huge leaguers Al and Mark, and subsequently the cousin of Jack and Mark Jr.) The newest Leiter struck out 56 batters in 35 innings earlier than a shoulder damage felled him on the finish of March, and he’s nonetheless not again into pitching form, in response to Jarrett.
However think about if he does get wholesome earlier than the top of the season; that’d give Florida State a reputable four-deep rotation for the NCAA Match, whereas most of their opponents are pulling freshmen and midweek relievers off the rack for high-leverage innings. We’d lastly discover out what a nationwide championship banner appears to be like like in garnet and gold.