The first pitch of the 2025 college baseball season gets thrown in less than three weeks, and those of us that love the sport are overflowing with anticipation. The ping of the bat when your favorite player connects on a 2-0 fastball. The pop of the glove when the ace throws an 0-2 fastball right by the batter for strike three. The sights and smells of your favorite ballpark. College baseball is one of the most perfect games man has ever conceived. Many a warm Saturday afternoon will be spent by fans basking in the sun and taking in the game at ballparks across the country this spring. And the burning question all of them will be asking is “do we have a shot to make it to Omaha this year?”
Being one of the “Eight at the Plate” in Omaha, Nebraska, is the goal of every college baseball program and fan this time of year. Two games a day for a week, followed by a three-game championship series to crown the national championship, is a hell of a thing to witness in person. Charles Schwab Field, homesite for every College World Series (CWS) game since 2011, is one of the nicest venues to catch a ballgame. From the delicious food options that span anything from typical ballpark fare to the BBQ stand out in right field, all the cold beer you can drink, watching the players arrive at the stadium, following the Jello shot contest at Rocco’s, and everything in between; attending the CWS in Omaha is one of the best sports experiences I’ve had the pleasure of having.
As the 2025 season approaches, one must wonder. Who will win it all? College baseball, more than any other major collegiate sport, is wide open from year to year. Meaning, there are more teams each year in college baseball that have a legitimate shot to dogpile in Omaha than there are teams that could cut down the nets during March Madness or drown in confetti at the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Sure, there will always be the favorites each season, but occasionally, an unknown shocks the world and knocks off the big dogs to cement their place in CWS lore. Think Coastal Carolina in 2016 or Fresno St in 2008.
If you’re playing the odds, though, your CWS champion is most likely one of the teams ranked in the preseason Top 25. A cursory look at D1 Baseball’s preseason Top 25 poll reveals some of the usual suspects. North Carolina, Oregon St, Virginia, and Florida St are perennials in almost any college baseball poll. But a closer look reveals a harsh truth for the rest of the college baseball world. 9 of the top 25 teams in the country today reside in the SEC. The next best conference is the ACC with 7.
The SEC hasn’t been without a winning tradition but took the college football world by storm starting in 2006, winning 12 of the next 19 national championships. Like football, SEC baseball has not been without a winning tradition. Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi St, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vanderbilt have all won at least one CWS. Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas A&M have all made it to the finals. Of the 16 SEC teams, only Auburn and Kentucky have failed to make a CWS final.
Fast forward to today, and the SEC has won 5 straight CWS championships, all by different teams, and 7 of the last 10 with Vanderbilt the only repeat champion during that time. Of the 20 teams to play in the CWS finals the last 10 times, 14 of them are current SEC teams. 5 times in the last 10 CWS, 2 current SEC teams have met in the CWS final. It appears that SEC baseball is smack dab in the middle of their own historic championship run.
So the question in 2025 is, SEC or the field? With the domination the SEC has enjoyed in recent years, sorry field, my money is on the SEC.