A new season always brings forth a new set of challengers. And with conference realignment shaking up the 2025 college baseball season, there will be even more storylines to follow. Some teams enter uncharted territory in already competitive leagues, while others look at it as an opportunity to start anew.
Here are seven teams that could win their new conference in 2025.
Big Ten contenders
Oregon
- 2024 record: 40-20 (College Station Super Regional)
- Key returners: Grayson Grinsell (LHP), Maddox Molony (IF)
In a 16-team conference where they are one of two teams ranked in D1Baseball’s preseason top 25, Oregon has one of the best chances to win the Big Ten on paper.
The Ducks returned most of their offensive production last year and epitomized an older team with loads of big game experience. And surprisingly, their biggest weapon might be sophomore infielder Maddox Molony, who was a 2024 All-Pac-12 Conference first team selection.
On the bump, Oregon doesn’t need to question who the Friday night starter will be. Left-hander Grayson Grinsell racked up 99 strikeouts in 79.1 innings last season, and held opposing hitters to a conference-best in .196 batting average.
UCLA
- 2024 record: 19-33
- Key returners: Roch Cholowsky (IF)
The Bruins 2024 season was one to forget, finishing at the bottom of the Pac-12’s standings due to a 19-33 overall record and 9-21 in conference play.
So how could UCLA be a team to watch this time around? Well, the Bruins’ top-ranked recruiting class in 2023 will be one year older, specifically infielder Roch Cholowsky, who led UCLA in batting average (.308) and home runs (8) last season as a sophomore.
A new season and conference could be just what the doctor ordered for the Bruins.
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Big 12 contenders
Arizona
- 2024 record: 36-23 (Tucson Regional)
- Key returners: Brendan Summerhill (OF), Mason White (IF)
There’s a multitude of positives when it comes to Arizona and the 2025 season. The reigning Pac-12 conference champions, 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Chip Hale and the Wildcats enter the Big 12 with the majority of their lineup from last season.
This features a trio that batted over .300 and 70 hits in outfielder Brendan Summerhill and infielders Mason White and Garen Caulfield. Summerhill and White were named to the preseason All-Big 12 Team.
The biggest concern for Arizona will be its pitching rotation. The group looks a lot different than last year, losing its top three starters and bringing in four new transfers to fill the void.
Arizona State
- 2024 record: 32-26
- Key returners: Kien Vu (OF), Brandon Compton (OF), Ben Jacobs (LHP)
It’s not very common to have multiple players that hit over .350 in the previous season return the next year, let alone one.
Say hello to Arizona State.
The Sun Devils get both outfielders Kien Vu (.413) and Brandon Compton (.354) to stir the ship and add key names in the transfer portal like Grambling State infielder Kyle Walker who hit .381 last year. Compton, Walker and ace left-hander Ben Jacobs were named to 2025 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List — the only team in the Big 12 with multiple players named to it.
Arizona State hasn’t finished in the top four of conference standings since 2020, but this year’s squad might have enough talent and big names to do so.
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ACC contenders
Stanford
- 2024 record: 22-33
- Key returners: Christian Lim (OF), Rintaro Sasaki (1B, freshman)
The Cardinal went down a rocky road in 2024, finishing under. 500 and missing the Men’s College World Series after three straight appearances.
Those woes have turned into blessings since then, as Stanford enters the 2025 season with most of its 2024 roster — 77% of its plate appearances and 94% of its innings pitched. Stanford didn’t add any transfers.
The Cardinal already has a solidified rotation with junior Matt Scott, and sophomores 2024 All-American left-hander Christian Lim and right-hander Joey Volchko. And offensively, they return their top eight batting averages while adding Japanese freshman phenom Rintaro Sasaki, who broke Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese high school home run record. Keep an eye on the first baseman and the NCAA single-season freshman home run record of 27.
The Cardinal’s road to glory won’t be easy in a conference with seven of D1Baseball’s top 25 ranked teams. However, with so much experience and familiar faces on its roster, Stanford has an advantage that most teams don’t have.
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SEC contenders
Texas
- 2024 record: 36-24 (College Station Regional)
- Key returners: Max Belyeu (OF), Rylan Galvan (C)
The SEC is the definition of a bloodbath. Ranked teams flooded throughout the conference and talent throughout each roster, there’s no way to cut corners in a league like this.
That said, Texas has the potential to make a statement in their first season as members of the SEC.
For starters, it’s a new era for the Longhorns. Coach Jim Schlossnagle traded in his Texas A&M threads and headed to Austin a day after the Aggies finished runner-up in the 2024 Men’s College World Series. Reaching the MCWS in two of the last three seasons, Schlossnagle brings postseason experience to an already storied program.
The Longhorns strong suit is its offense. They are loaded with major bats, headlined by two preseason all-SEC players in first-team outfielder Max Belyeu, the 2024 Big 12 Player of the Year, and second-team catcher Rylan Galvan. Besides them, they have four players that hit over .300 last season and cranked double-digit home runs, including Louisiana Monroe transfer outfielder Easton Winfeld, who was one of the top transfers in the nation.
The team’s biggest questions fall on the pitching staff that brought in four starting pitchers from the portal. Yet, the group will be led by pitching coach Max Weiner, who led Texas A&M to the fourth-best ERA in the country last season.
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Oklahoma
- 2024 record: 40-21 (Norman Regional)
- Key returners: Kyson Witherspoon (RHP), Easton Carmichael (C)
The Sooners and Longhorns are polar opposites when it comes to where the money resides.
Oklahoma’s starting rotation headlines the strong pitching staff, and it’s a bunch that can arguably hang with any other starting units in the SEC. Right-hander Kyson Witherspoon was the Sooners lone preseason all-SEC nod and is a top prospect for the 2025 Draft, according to D1Baseball. He will be followed by twin brother right-hander Malachi and LSU transfer lefty Cam Johnson.
On the flip side, OU lost most of its offensive production after last season. It left just one player who hit over .300 and another with double-digit home runs — catcher Easton Carmichael (.366) and infielder Jaxon Willits (10), respectively.
