When we are just behind the medieval, we look at the biggest names and teams that follow you for the rest of the season, along with teams that need to improve if they want to slip into Postseason.
Arkansas leads the way on the top of the ranking on the ranking in fifth place in Preseason Top 10. What improved razorbacks in the first half to move along the ranks and establish themselves as a candidate for the SeC championship?
Men’s World Series Runner-up Texas A & M has a heavy first half, but things are beginning to look for aggies after defeating Tennessee in Knoxville. Which match do fans look for as a turning point for Texas A&M?
Our college baseball experts are thinking about the first half and what to look forward to for the rest of the season.
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The greatest surprise | The best teams and players
Teams that require improvement
Trendy to watch | Sleepers
1. Which team surprised you most in the first half of the season?
Chris Burke: Arkansas was selected in the TOP 10 Preseason TOP 10, so it is probably a section. But I will say that the way he dominated was surprising. Razorbacks were highly appreciated in Preseason, based mainly on the power of their experienced pitching staff, but after they had actually fought among the last few years, they had legitimate assault question marks. Fast move forward to the middle of the season and Arkansas is No. 1 in the country and fights for the SEC championship, based primarily on the power of its offense. It is No. 4 in the country in Homer (74) and 4 in a percentage of columning (0.601). While the playground was really good, no.
Mike Rooney: Tennessee needed to replace two big Hitters in Christian Moore and Blake Burke (among other things) coming to the 2025 season. So it was reasonable to expect this program to take a slight step back because Captain Tony Vitelo reset the list after last year’s national championship. Low and behold, it is the most talented team in the country again. College baseball has not seen the repetition of national champions since 2010 and 2011 in South Carolina. Stay tuned.
David Dellucci: The incredible turn of the UCLA baseball team, which is in the nation in 10th place this week. 26-6 Bruins has exceeded its victory last season (19-33). It seems that with a very award -winning schedule and RPI No. 17, it seems that they are on the way to organize regional.
Kiley McDaniel: Kansas surprised me the most. They run RHP Dominic Voegele and JC Transfer 1b Brady Ballinger, Jayhawks leads Big 12 despite the lack of brand name players and are finally included in the TOP 25 this week. Minnesota, while tieing a NCAA record with five straight home runs.
2. Which teams and players impressed you most?
Burke: The state offense in Florida and the emergence of SS Alex Losis as an offensive force in combination with Max Williams, which makes a jump to be a real threat of power, has seen that the crime in Florida is asserted as a type of group that can get the semifinals back to the semifinals in Omaha. The FSU has one of the most talented initial rotations in the country and now with the top five offenses is a team that really impressed, and the one I expect to be there with the opportunity to win everything.
Rooney: In 2024, UCLA went all-in on the high-end Freshman class. And Bruins paid a steep price for his youth and in their last season in the PAC-12 was only 19-33. Fast move forward to 2025 and this group dominated Big Ten and overall got 10-2 in the league and 26-6. On the player’s side, Lodises is now the first ACC shortstops family. Cousins Kyle (Georgia Tech) and Alex (Florida State) own OPS over 1,320, good for TOP 20 at national level. Don’t be surprised if these two Omaha turn to a family meeting this June.
Dellucci: I thought Arkansas would have to win this season for pitching and defense. These feelings have changed when opening the weekend when it swept a series of four games against Washington with a total score of 34-8. The crime did not slow down and last weekend Missouri swept a total score of 51-9. The hogs scored two -digit runs in more than half of the games that were played this year and lead the Sec average in team bats and RBI. I also enjoyed watching “Bash Brothers”, Kuhio and Wehiwa Aloy, who strengthened the crime with a pavement diameter of 0.371 and 0.359.
McDaniel: Liam Doyle, Kade Anderson and Kyony Witherspoon are the best jugs in SEC and everyone would go to the top 15 tips if they were a proposal today; Entering the season that can fit somewhere from the selection 30 to 60.
3. Which teams have a job?
Burke: I’ve never seen a Sec season with more teams trying to find winnings. Usually there is a team or two that falls on hard times and finds itself at the bottom of the ranking. This season is five teams through 12 conference games that have three victories or less. Florida, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Missouri find themselves 3-9 or worse. What is wild are two of these five teams, Texas A&M and Florida have been in Omaha in the last four in the last four. Not to mention that the agies were pre -election No. 1 .. The edges are in the sec slim, slipping just a little and things can go to the side fast!
Rooney: North Carolina entered the season with the momentum of McWs and the top six. The tar heels sit on No. 16 with a perfectly cromulent recording of 25-8. However, their ACC 8-7 brand reveals some struggles, especially on the offensive side. The average tab of the club is at the conference in the 14th place. Extreme ARM Talent UNC increases the ceiling for this team, but the set has room for growth.
Dellucci: 2024 McWs Runner-up Texas A & M has at least the mysterious first half. Entry to the Tennessee series with a record of the conference 1-8 and after the game 1 gets ten-run by the rule and does not prevent the ten-runs of the rules, it seemed as if AGGies were moving from Preseason No. 1 to everyone, but done. After hit 11 home runs in the next two games and threw the Volds 26-9, the fans are looking forward to the upcoming series against South Carolina with optimism that aggies can return and slip into Postseason.
McDaniel: Florida. Gators have so far played a hard conference plan, but I can’t say I imagined that they could be 1-11 in SEC. The good news is that this weekend is facing 0-12 Missouri.
4. What is the biggest story that follows the rest of the season?
Burke: Ryland Zaborowski started the eighth batting season for Georgian bulldogs. The senior from Miami (Ohio), who moved from Miami (Ohio), is expected, but how difficult it was to say to the guy who hit 10 homers last year in Mac. Well, in one of the wildest stories I remember, he not only contributed “Zabo”, but performs at the Golden Spikes price level. He will build numbers on the same level as last year’s GSA winner, also Georgian bulldog Charlie Condon. Through 34 games, Zaborowski is the second in Sec in the batting at 0.424 and is tied in a country with 15 Homer and tied fifth in the country with 51 RBI. There’s a long way, but it would be quite a story if the senior fifth year allowed Georgia to have national players of the year.
Rooney: Do programs need time to acclimatize new conference houses? Obviously not. Texas Acced its first four SEC series. The above UCLA Bruins runs directly through Big Ten. And no one would be shocked if the Arizona or the Arizona state won the Big 12 in their inauguration periods in the league. The best in the class is translated into a college baseball and seems to enjoy their new neighborhoods.
Dellucci: The Transfer portal is an important part of the Championship team and it seems that the best teams in the D1 baseball this year have lists that are full of gears. For an occasional fan, the overall product in the field is certainly better, but there are also many questions and worries about a long -term effect on sport. What will be the journey for secondary school players in the future? What happens to Midmajor programs? How can a coach who is hired after the season build a list after exhaustion of the portal? And the most important question, what is the effect of (remember this term?) Student athlete?
McDaniel: Battle at the top of SEC and thus likely preview Omaha. Arkansas, Texas, LSU and Tennessee are all traditional forces filled with a professional talent that will be fun to watch the section.
5. Which team of sleep do you think has a chance to make a deep run in McWs?
Burke: Ucla? It’s been a long time since Bruins was a real candidate for Omaha, but it looks like he stood up on the region’s hosting this year, a step one step one when he returned to Oma. There was much concern about the future of UCLA when she entered Big on the first trip through a new conference on cold weather. However, the change of scenery was really good for Bruins. At the conference there are the top five in the launch and era and their record 10-2 is a position to win the title of regular season. It was a minute, but 2025 could see the return of John Savage and Bruins to McWs.
Rooney: Arizona won both PAC-12 Championships (regular season and tournament) on the way to the region. The Chip Hale program has a pedigree of the National Championship and the depth of the pitching of this team is extraordinary. Once the dynamic outfielder Brendan Summerhill returns from injuries, beware. On Big West are UC Irvine and Cal Poly such teams that you do not want in your region.
Dellucci: Georgia Tech is not alien to Postseason baseball because there have been three of the last four seasons in the Regional. Tech is on a similar composition, with a team of 0.341 and ERA 4.06 and a total of 26-7 record (11-4 in ACC). This season, however, is more motivation than ever, because the head coach Danny Hall is ready to leave after 32 years. Can yellow jackets watch Florida State Seminoles 2019, who said goodbye to Mike Martin to remember the end of his career by a trip to Omara?
McDaniel: Virginia is 7-8 in ACC, but cavalry has components that you would like to see how they move forward. If several of their young players or those who get to unequal start can fix the ship, they will be in it now.
