D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 Reaction: Too high, too low, snubs and more

The 2025 D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 was released Monday, featuring last year’s runner-up Texas A&M at No. 1.

Tennessee dropped down to No. 4 after losing lots of star power from their national title campaign in 2024.

Who should be higher? Who should be lower? Who was left out? All of these questions and more will be answered below.

Too high: No. 13 NC State

Of the eight teams that went to the College World Series, the Wolfpack look much less likely to return to Omaha.

NC State needs to rebuild after losing their top sluggers in outfielder Alec Makarewicz and catcher Jacob Cozart.

San Diego transfer infielder Justin DeCrisio brings some flash as an everyday starter, but he’ll need to step up into the spotlight quickly.

The Wolfpack pitching staff looks solid heading into 2025 with rotation pieces Ryan Marohn and Jacob Dudan.

NC State’s non-conference weekend slate features only two Power 4 opponents, with single games against Ohio State and Alabama.

Too low: No. 15 Clemson

The Tigers look ready to bounce back after getting swept at home by Florida in the Clemson Super Regional.

Outfielder Cam Cannarella returns for his junior year looking to improve upon his 2024 breakout season where he hit 11 home runs.

A major pickup is catcher Luke Gaffney from Purdue, who earned the title of Big Ten Freshman of the Year after batting .330 in his first college season.

Clemson returns two key rotation pieces in righthander Aidan Knaak and lefthander Ethan Darden, whose totals combined for 150 strikeouts, a 10-6 record and an earned average of 4.14 last season.

The Tigers will certainly get their fair share of “prove yourself” games early on, with neutral site games against No. 17 Oklahoma State and No. 21 Arizona.

Biggest snub: South Carolina

The Gamecocks have the ingredients necessary to make a big run in 2025.

Superstar infielder and outfielder Ethan Petry is back for his junior year following his second-straight 20+-home run season with South Carolina.

The Gamecocks hired Paul Mainieri, a coach who led LSU to a national championship in 2009, as well as eight regular season conference titles in his 38 years of experience.

Lefthander Jarvis Evans Jr. could evolve into a Sunday starter following a sophomore campaign with Georgia that saw him accumulate a 3-2 record with a 5.49 earned run average.

South Carolina faces No. 15 Clemson in a weekend series, but besides that, their non-conference weekend schedule isn’t too strong.

Shouldn’t have been ranked: No. 22 UC Santa Barbara

The Gauchos lost lots of production from last year’s squad that won 44 games.

UC Santa Barbara will be without eight of their 11 qualified hitters from 2024, including outfielder Ivan Brethowr, whose 15 home runs led the team.

Infielder and outfielder Jack Holman will look to make an impact from UCLA after batting .381 with 24 runs batted in during summer ball with the Santa Barbara Foresters.

Their bright spot lies in the rotation as righthander Tyler Bremner returns for his junior season following a 2024 campaign where he accumulated an 11-1 record through 19 appearances and 9 starts.

The Gauchos will play only two games against Power 4 opponents this season, with both being USC in midweek contests.

Ranking grade: B-

Some fans may be shocked to see LSU jump from not being ranked to the preseason No. 3 team, but 43 wins in 2024 was an “off year” for the Tigers.

Georgia has lots of potential with their returning stars, yet with a lot left to prove they are properly ranked.

Duke made the jump from No. 24 to No. 11, yet they still have much more potential than some of the others ranked before them.

TCU does not yet look like they have enough put together to be ranked, and yet at No. 23, they need to earn their spot in the rankings.

Overall, certain teams are too high, some too low, and some shouldn’t have been in. With that being said, however, it’s nothing out of the ordinary for preseason rankings.

Bryan Portney is a first-year broadcast journalism major. To contact him, email bep5295@psu.edu.