The 2025 NCAA DI Baseball season is three days away as teams out of the Southeastern Conference begin to barrel up against tough competition. Before the season begins, we decided to put together an SEC Preseason Power Rankings to start the year.
Preseason SEC Baseball Power Rankings
Top 5
We are going to put Tennessee at the top after coming off winning the College World Series last season. The Volunteers bring back a talented roster under head coach Tony Vitello. After putting together a 60-13 (22-8 SEC) record in 2024, Tennessee is a huge favorite to win it all again.
Arkansas comes in at second on our list after loading up from the transfer portal. The Razorbacks had a highly skilled team last year that put up a 44-16 (20-10 SEC) record but failed to make it out of their own regional for the second straight year. Head Hog Dave Van Horn has once again put together an impressive pitching depth and is awaiting to see how the bats begin the year.
Texas A&M clocks in at third despite coming up one win short of winning the national championship over Tennessee in 2024. Despite losing former head coach Jim Schlossnagle to Texas less than 24 hours after losing in the best of three, Michael Earley will try to rally the talented Aggies to another trip to Omaha, Neb. Surprisingly, Texas A&M was selected by the league’s coaches to win the SEC regular season title.
Speaking of Texas teams, the Texas Longhorns register at number four in our power rankings. Not only did they bring over Schlossnagle from Aggies, but the Horns have also garnered some NCBWA preseason All-American accolades with UTSA transfer RHP Ruger Riojas (First Team), INF Jalin Flores (Second Team) and OF Max Belyeu (Second Team).
Florida logs in at number five after putting together one of the most shocking seasons in 2024. At 28-27, the Gators were selected as a number three seed in the Stillwater Regional and battled their way to the College World Series semifinals, where they lost to Texas A&M. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s coaching skills will likely send Florida to the NCAA Tournament once again if the team does not end up with a similar record to the one they had the year before. Jac Caglinone will not be able to save the Gators now.
Middle of the pack
Georgia comes in at number six and is a dark horse to win the SEC. Head coach Wes Johnson, who served as the pitching coach under Van Horn from 2017-2018, did an excellent job with the Bulldogs in his first year last season. Georgia finished 43-17 (13-17 SEC) last season while hosting their own regional and super regional before falling to North Carolina State at home in three games. Just goes to show that you learn from the best.
LSU places seventh on the list after replenishing what they lost two years ago on its 2023 national championship squad. The Tigers have solid depth in the outfield but have a pitching staff that raises many questions after the departures of LHP Gage Jump and RHP Luke Holman.
Vanderbilt is looking pretty solid going into 2025 even though it comes in at eighth. The Commodores are still in good hands with Tim Corbin but are looking to advance past a regional for the first time since 2021.
Heading down lower on the list are Mississippi State, Kentucky, Auburn and Alabama at ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th respectively.
The Bulldogs are getting back into their winning ways with a tournament bid last year under seventh-year coach Chris Lemonis after missing out on the postseason twice in a row since winning the national title in 2021.
The Wildcats are looking to pick up where they left off last season after appearing in the first College World Series in program history but are predicted to finish 10th in the conference. The Tigers are coming off finishing dead last in the SEC with an 8-22 league record. The Crimson Tide are looking to improve after just barely making it into the postseason in 2024, where they were eliminated in two games in the Tallahassee Regional.
Bottom of the barrel
At the bottom of the barrel, we have Oklahoma, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Missouri at 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.
The Sooners are entering their first year in the SEC and are in for a treat as the competition goes up to another level. A lot of questions are surrounding the Gamecocks as they are predicted to finish 14th in the SEC standings under Paul Mainieri, who is coming out of a three-year retirement to replace now Creighton head coach Mark Kingston. The Rebels are still trying to get out of their national championship hangover from 2022, while the Tigers are still trying to figure it out under second-year skipper Kerrick Jackson.
Baseball Power Rankings:
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Florida
- Georgia
- LSU
- Vanderbilt
- Mississippi State
- Kentucky
- Auburn
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Missouri