College Baseball Top 25 Rankings

We are about a month into the season, and the rankings are getting more challenging as the season progresses. Teams like Tennessee, LSU, Florida State, and Arkansas remain red hot as the top five teams in the nation. Meanwhile, Texas A&M, Duke, and Virginia have struggled and seen the most significant drop in rankings over the last two updates. 

Our Just Baseball analysts gathered for the second biweekly update of our college baseball top 25 rankings. 

Biggest Riser

Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns have made a significant leap in our Top 25 rankings, propelled by a stellar start to the 2025 season. Under the new leadership of head coach Jim Schlossnagle, Texas boasts a 13–1 record. 

They’ve produced some really solid wins, starting early in the season in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown, where they beat Ole Miss and Oklahoma State. 

The team’s success can be attributed to returning talent and impactful newcomers. Key returners like shortstop Jalin Flores provide stability and experience. 

The Longhorns also strengthened their roster through the transfer portal, adding players such as infielder Ethan Mendoza from Arizona State and pitcher Jared Spencer (Indiana State). Mendoza is hitting .429 this year, and Spencer has become a true Friday night ace. 

This Longhorns team is good on both sides of the ball and looks primed and ready for SEC play. 

Biggest Fallers

#17 Texas A&M Aggies

Unlike the Longhorns, the other school from Texas has experienced a notable decline in our Top 25 rankings, primarily due to offensive struggles and a series of recent losses. 

Our preseason #1 ranked team started 5-0 against lesser opponents but it was all downhill.

They lost their first game on February 23rd to Cal Poly, which seemed to shift the tone. Right after that, they got devastating news that 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year Gavin Grahovac would miss the remainder of the 2025 season with an injury. 

It was a massive blow to an already struggling offense. The Aggies then made their way to the Astros Foundation Classic, where they lost back-to-back games to Arizona and Oklahoma State before running out Rice. 

Their midweek struggles continued, losing to UTSA. This past weekend they had a cake walk series against New Mexico State. They came out strong on Friday and Saturday but lost on Sunday.

The Aggies need an offensive wakeup call to get things going. 

While I’m not 100% concerned, this team is hitting .261 and key pieces like Gavin Kash, Jace LaViolette, and Hayen Schott have yet to produce consistently. They’ve been running on the backs of Wyatt Henseler and Kaeden Kent lately.

The rotation hasn’t been much of a concern, as Ryan Prager, Justin Lamkin, and Myles Patton have been an incredible trio. The bullpen just hasn’t been able to hold things down with the offense’s lack of run production.

SEC play starts next weekend, which doesn’t give the Aggies much time to figure things out. But they will need to if they want to avoid what could be a long season. 

#21 Virginia Cavaliers

Man, it has been a rough start for our preseason #3 ranked team. This team’s fall has probably been the most shocking to me as they went into this season with arguably the best lineup and the most depth in the country. 

The Cavaliers have a 9–5 overall record and a 1–2 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. They started ACC play this weekend against Boston College, probably the easiest opponent, but they lost the series.

These early setbacks have raised concerns about the team’s consistency and ability to close games. Offensive struggles have been a significant factor in Virginia’s performance. 

Key starters, such as junior outfielder Harrison Didawick and graduate catcher Jacob Ference, have underperformed at the plate, with Didawick batting .189 and Ference managing only seven hits in eight starts.

The overall inconsistency in a lineup that was supposed to be the best in the nation has hindered the Cavaliers’ ability to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

The Cavaliers’ rotation has been good, as Jay Woolfolk and Tomas Valincius have been holding things down. The issue is that injuries have plagued their Friday night ace, Evan Blanco.

For a team in the top of the nation in home runs last year, they’ve only hit 12. They are raking up hits, but they need to start driving in runs if they want to turn the page. They’ll need to turn things around quickly, especially offensively.

Who’s In?

#19 Arizona Wildcats

In our last edition, we discussed how the Wildcats could easily be seen as a team that quickly made it back into the Top 25. Two weeks later, here they are. 

After losing their first three games in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown, Arizona ran and won seven straight games before losing to the #1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers. 

During this run, they swept San Diego, beat #2 Texas A&M, and won over a tough Mississippi State team that is ranked by some outlets. It was just a really nice bounce-back by the Wildcats.

After losing to Tennessee to snap the streak, they hosted Pepperdine for a four-game set and swept them in those four games. This turnaround is thanks to their bats turning the corner and their starting rotation holding it down.

Adonys Guzman, Aaron Walton, Brendan Summerhill, and Mason White have supplied the Wildcats’ pop and run-scoring ability. Summerhill and White are two top prospects for the 2025 MLB Draft, and this team needs them firing on all cylinders to be successful.

For the rotation, Collin McKinney has started to look the part of a true ace posting a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 IP. Casey Hintz has been following him on Friday’s out of he bullpen and posting 1.72 ERA in 15.2 IP. It’s a solid 1-2 punch on Friday’s. 

They’ll face some tougher opponents this week as they have Arizona State on Tuesday and the Cincinnati Bearcats this upcoming weekend. Both should provide a test for the Wildcats, but they should continue to see themselves in the top 25 if they can tread water. 

#22 Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Southern Miss is no stranger to finding itself in the top 25, and this year is no different as they finally break into ours. The Golden Eagles are 11-5, with a series win over TCU in Fort Worth, a split with Mississippi State in midweeks so far, and most recently a home series win against an extremely feisty UNC Wilmington team that we saw beat Georgia just a few weeks ago.

The strength of this team is experience, from the staff to the lineup. Rounding out their rotation is junior RHP JB Middleton, jr LHP Kros Sivley, and 5th-year RHP Matthew Adams, all of which have been significant innings contributors in their whole time at USM.

While the team’s 4.37 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, they hold opposing hitters to just a .243 batting average and hold nearly a three-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

The Golden Eagles have surged so far due to timely hitting, flashing a consistent ability to score runs in bunches.

They are getting solid production out of their experienced bats, Matthew Russo, Ozzie Pratt, and Carson Paetow, who account for nine of the team’s 20 home runs and 39 of the team’s 92 RBIs. 

They also hold the great equalizer… Pete Taylor Park. We’ve seen many regionals at The Pete where opponents go in and are overmatched by the environment, and an experienced squad. This 2025 Southern Miss club is no different, as they’re off to a 9-2 start in Hattiesburg. 

Breaking into our rankings this week, the Golden Eagles will look to cement their position with a midweek matchup against UTRGV and a weekend set against Old Dominion, all at The Pete (Will Mossa)

#25 Troy Trojans

​The 2025 Troy Trojans baseball team has entered our Top 25 rankings after starting 13-3. Under head coach Skylar Meade, now in his fourth year, Troy has built a well-rounded team that excels both offensively and on the mound.

Their resume includes a marquee victory over a tough Mississippi State team, reinforcing their ability to compete with top-tier programs.

Offensively, the Trojans have been a force, ranking among the nation’s best in on-base percentage and runs per game. Key returning contributors like junior catcher Brooks Bryan—who set a school record with 85 RBIs in 2024—and senior outfielder Shane Lewis, the 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year, have been instrumental in their early success.

The pitching staff has been anchored by veterans such as Garrett Gainous and Grayson Stewart, who rank among Troy’s all-time strikeout leaders. Newcomers like Auburn transfer Drew Nelson and Eastern Michigan’s Adam Falinski have added much-needed depth to the rotation.

Troy will have to keep winning at a high clip due to their strength of schedule, but this team is talented enough to continue to do so. 

Who’s Out? 

Auburn Tigers

Despite the 13-3 record, it’s hard to figure out what the Auburn Tigers are as a team. They’ve got an impressive win against a ranked Oregon State team, but also have some actual tough Saturday losses to Old Dominion and Holy Cross. 

When you look at the lineup, guys like Coper McMurray and Deric Fabian have really stepped up for this squad, while key pieces like 2025 MLB Draft prospects Ike Irish and Lucas Steele have struggled to get going. 

It gives you some hope that if guys like Irish and Steele can turn things around, this team could take off in SEC play. 

Their pitching staff has a lot of question marks. Samuel Dutton, Christian Chatterton, and Cam Tilly have been fantastic, but Cade Fisher came over to be this team’s ace and has looked far from the part of one. 

The rotation questions and the struggles from the star players in the lineup haven’t hurt them thus far, but they start SEC next week against a tough Vanderbilt team. And things don’t get easier from there. Auburn can show who they are over the next couple of weeks.

Duke Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils became our highest preseason-ranked team (#10) to fall out of the top 25. Since day one, the Blue Devils have struggled to get things going. 

The Blue Devils faced a tough offseason having to replace some key producers last year, including ace Jnathan Santucci (drafted), closer Charlie Beilenson (drafted), and centerfielder Devin Obee (transferred to Georgia). 

Despite these departures, expectations for the Blue Devils remained high. They had returning guys like AJ Gracia, Ben Miller, and Kyle Johnson. They also brought in several transfers, like Harvard’s Jake Berger and Ben Rounds and Georgetown’s Jake Hyde. 

But Duke’s struggles continue. They’ve started the season 10-6, including an early series loss to Cincinnati and tough Friday night losses to Cornell and Cal. 

Their midweek matchups haven’t gone much better as they piled up more losses against the likes of Campbell and Liberty. 

While I don’t think it is time to hit the panic button just yet, things aren’t going to get easier for the Blue Devils in ACC play. They started conference play against arguably the most straightforward team in the California Golden Bears and although they won the series, they got ten-run ruled on Friday night. 

They’ll have to try to turn things around over the next two weeks against an extremely tough Stanford team this weekend and another struggling ranked ACC team in Virginia the weekend after. 

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

There were plenty of arguments for keeping the 13-3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in our top 25, but they just missed the cut because the competition was extremely competitive, and lots of teams had strong cases for the top 25. 

The Yellow Jackets haven’t had the strongest schedule to start the season, facing Old Dominion, Georgia Southern, Marshall, West Georgia, Western Michigan, Kennesaw State, and Virginia Tech. 

While the series win against ACC opponent Virginia Tech is impressive, they still had split a series with a Marshall. 

The team has seen a ton of production from its lineup, hitting .333 overall with 23 home runs and 135 RBI. The offense has been cooking thanks to Kent Schmidt, Kyle Lodise, and stud sophomore Drew Burress.

The pitching staff has been good. They’ve found an ace in Tate McKee, although they’d love to see him go deeper in games. They might also have the game’s best reliever in Mason Patel, who’s 5-0 and has posted a 0.00 ERA in 17 innings pitched. 

Despite the strength of schedule, it’s hard to ignore what Georgia Tech has done thus far and they could be a team back in our top 25 in no time.