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2,450 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
College  | Rankings | 1/6/2021

2021 Preseason College Top 25

Photo: Jud Fabian (Mario Houben)
College baseball is on the precipice of being officially back and yesterday we released the Preseason All-Americans along with today’s Preseason Top 25. Perfect Game will be your one-stop shop for all things college baseball in the coming weeks, as we’ll have previews for each conference of Division I baseball along with previews and breakdowns for Division II, Division III, NAIA, and JUCO.

As with any year, the quest for selecting the No. 1 team in the country was not an easy one and featured a lot of debate amongst the merits of the teams. Ultimately, we went with Florida who ended last season as our No. 1 team following a 16-1 start, a sweep of a top-10 ranked Miami, and the breakout of star center fielder Jud Fabian. Florida featured three players on the Preseason All-American team, which includes the aforementioned Fabian on the first team, Tommy Mace on the second team, and Hunter Barco on the third team. We’ll have a full report and feature article from Jeff Dahn on the No. 1 Gators later this week.



The rest of the top-10 features a lot of the usual suspects as Louisville, Texas Tech, and UCLA were ranked No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, respectively, when the season ended and retain those rankings now. Louisville might have the deepest group of returning hitters in the country while Texas Tech would rival them in that department. The Bruins return their entire weekend rotation and will be led by a college superstar in shortstop Matt McLain.

Ole Miss and Vanderbilt come in at Nos. 5 and 6 and both teams feature deadly starting pitching combinations in the Rebels’ Doug Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund along with the Commodores’ Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. Miami is ranked No. 7 and will have to replace two of their weekend starters but have the incoming talent to reconcile that, while No. 8 LSU might have one of their best freshman classes in recent memory. Virginia has the pitching depth to compete with anyone at No. 9, and at No. 10 is the first mid-major in UC Santa Barbara as their starting rotation might stand atop the country when the dust settles on the 2021 season.

We’ll have a ton of content coming out regarding the upcoming season starting next week with full breakdowns of the Top 25 along with breakdowns of teams that just missed the cut in the 26-40 range. The rankings will be updated once the season starts on a weekly basis on Mondays following the action of weekend series. Make sure to follow on Twitter for all things college baseball and Perfect Game.

@PerfectGameUSA | @PGCollegeBall | @vcervinoPG

Breakdown by conference:

SEC: 8 (Florida, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia)
ACC: 6 (Louisville, Miami, Virginia, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Florida State)
Big 10: 3 (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State)
Pac 12: 3 (UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State)
Big 12: 2 (Texas Tech, Texas)
American: 2 (East Carolina, UCF)
Big West: 1 (UC Santa Barbara)


Rank Team 2020 Record 2020 Finish Conference
1 Florida 16-1 1 SEC
2 Louisville 13-4 2 ACC
3 Texas Tech 16-3 3 Big 12
4 UCLA 13-2 4 Pac 12
5 Mississippi 16-1 14 SEC
6 Vanderbilt 13-5 7 SEC
7 Miami 12-4 11 ACC
8 LSU 12-5 NR SEC
9 Virginia 14-4 16 ACC
10 UC Santa Barbara 13-2 18 Big West
11 Arizona 10-5 NR Pac 12
12 Mississippi State 12-4 10 SEC
13 East Carolina 13-4 NR American
14 Indiana 9-6 NR Big 10
15 Arizona State 13-4 6 Pac 12
16 North Carolina State 14-3 17 ACC
17 Auburn 13-5 13 SEC
18 Michigan 8-7 21 Big 10
19 Georgia Tech 11-5 NR ACC
20 Arkansas 11-5 15 SEC
21 Florida State 11-5 NR ACC
22 Texas 14-3 24 Big 12
23 Ohio State 6-8 NR Big 10
24 Georgia 14-4 5 SEC
25 UCF 15-3 12 American

College | Story | 5/25/2026

Field of 64 Projections

Vincent Cervino
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The 2026 season was one of the most exciting and unpredictable editions of college baseball in recent memory, and as quickly as it flew by, we are ready to start the “Road to Omaha”.  After hours of deliberation, we are ready to release our projected region field and “Field of 64” as we see it.  The UCLA Bruins (51-6) start us off as the anticipated No. 1 National Seed as they put the finishing touches on a historic season, including a 27-game win streak, a Big 10 Regular Season title and Big 10 Tournament championship.  The Big 10 looks like they will have (4) teams in the field, with (3) host sights, representing the West Coast well.  The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (48-9) should secure the No. 2 Nation Seed and lead the charge for (8) teams from the ACC in the field with (3) of them securing host opportunities.  Meanwhile, the Georgia...
Tournaments | Story | 5/24/2026

East Memorial Day Scout Notes: Days 1-2

Perfect Game Staff
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‘27 IF Braylon Sheffield (FL) with an absolute 🚀 here, launching high off the RCF wall for a 3B. Super polished LH stick; hit over .400 last year on the circuit. #GoHoos commit. #EastMemorial pic.twitter.com/mdehqpR5v5 — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) May 23, 2026 Braylon Sheffield (2027, Fort Myers, Fla.) got the event started with the loudest swing of the night on Friday at Terry Park, rocketing a triple off the wall in the stadium. Sheffield, ranked 121 and committed to Virginia, is a super polished left-handed hitter with left side of the infield projection long term. The swing is tension-free with loose wrists and he generates easy bat speed with already present power to the pull side. This blast came inches away from being a home run and hitting a ball that far at Terry Park stadium is a significant shot. Sheffield also tripled in his second game of the weekend at...
Tournaments | Story | 5/24/2026

West Memorial Day Scout Notes: Days 1-2

Tyler Henninger
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Colton Floyd (‘27,AZ) just misses a HR here. Can really impact the baseball & shows over the fence power potential. Took 3 QAB’s today. He’s the #1 ranked 3B in the state and #4 in the country. #MDWest https://t.co/ReMh7D0v4y pic.twitter.com/w1dzssSy8N — Perfect Game Four Corners (@PG_FourCorners) May 23, 2026 Colton Floyd, 3B, Chandler, AZ. Canes West National (2027) Floyd is a high-upside prospect with physical tools and burgeoning power. His combination of size, bat speed, and raw strength makes him one of the top power-hitting third basemen in the country. Currently ranked the #1 third baseman in Arizona and #4 nationally in his class. With continued refinement of his approach and defensive consistency, he has all the ingredients to be a middle-of-the-order bat at Texas A&M and a legitimate MLB Draft prospect JJ Utash (‘27,AZ) with a triple here....
Tournaments | Story | 5/21/2026

Memorial Day Classics Set to Kick Off

Perfect Game Staff
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Southeast Memorial Day East Cobb Baseball will welcome more than 100 teams spanning the 13-17u age groups this weekend as summer baseball gets underway with the highly anticipated PG Southeast Memorial Day Classic, commencing on Thursday, May 21st. This weekend’s annual premier event will feature 11 nationally ranked teams across the five age groups with the No. 9 16u East Cobb Astros headlining the 17u division alongside top prospects such as No. 11 ranked Bryan Johnson Jr. And No. 22 ranked Georgia Tech commit, Malachi Butler. The No. 34 17u ranked 643 DP Cougars will also be a squad to watch as they will look to challenge the Astros for the championship amongst the other 14 17u division teams. While the oldest division will draw lots of attention with highly touted prospects, the 16u field is stacked with 29 total teams including three nationally ranked clubs. Over 30 top 1000...
High School | General | 5/22/2026

Northeast High School Notebook: May 22

Anthony Gambardella
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‘26 RHP Hunter Brown (@NHLionsBaseball - NJ) struck out 1️⃣5️⃣ thru 6 IP w/ 0 BB & 2 H allowed. FB lived 90-92, T93 w/ ASR & late life. Froze bats with his 11/5 CB both early/late in counts (2600rpm). Mixed in fading CH & short/tight SL. #WeAre commit. @PG_Draft#PGHS @PG_Scouting pic.twitter.com/NbSSOmCyD0 — Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic (@PGMidAtlantic) April 23, 2026 Hunter Brown - 2026 RHP, North Hunterdon Reg (N.J.) was utterly dominant in his start against Franklin last month, tossing six shutout innings with 15 strikeouts, zero walks and just two hits allowed. The 6-foot-5 215-pound right-hander has pitched to a 0.97 ERA this spring with 78 punchouts over 36 innings of work. Brown has been one of the many northeast arms receiving increasingly more buzz ahead of the MLB Draft this July. Brown’s heater lived in the low-90s throughout the duration of his...
Press Release | Press Release | 5/22/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 65

Ron Wolforth
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The Insidious Lie That Hurts Pitchers Thep Most How many of you have ever had a terrible outing and afterward couldn’t really explain what went wrong? And how many of you have ever had a great outing and couldn’t explain what you did differently either? That gap between what is happening and your awareness of what is happening may be one of the most important gaps in player development. Closing that gap has a name. It is called metacognition. In simple terms, metacognition means thinking about your thinking. It is the ability to understand how you learn, how you perform, how you respond under pressure, and how you make adjustments when things are not going your way. For a pitcher, that matters because no matter how good your coach is, he cannot stand on the mound with you. Your coach cannot take the ball with the bases loaded, two outs, and the best hitter in the league...
College | Rankings | 5/20/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: May 20

Nick Herfordt
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There is a reason the preseason pick to win it all rarely does. College baseball's postseason is a gauntlet — double elimination, best-of-three’s, then a full World Series format — and the team that looks unbeatable in February has to prove it again in May against opponents who have had just as long to get ready. Plenty of programs have entered the tournament as the obvious favorite and gone home early. It happens every year. Nobody should be shocked when it does. Top-ranked teams flaming out in regional weekends happens so many times it has become its own genre of schadenfreude Which makes this particular moment worth noting. The Perfect Game preseason picks to win the NAIA, NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III national titles — Tennessee Wesleyan, UT Tyler, and the University of Lynchburg — are all still alive heading into the final rounds. All three...
College | Story | 5/21/2026

Coppy's Corner: May 21 POY Deep Dive

John Coppolella
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Each week I huddle with Vinnie Cervino and Craig Cozart  to discuss Top-25 rankings and Players of the Week. In Coppy’s Corner, I dive deeper into these Players of the Week, providing analysis from 20+ years working in baseball front offices at the highest level.   Co-Player of the Week: Carson Tinney – University of Texas  As a Notre Dame alumnus, it pained me to see Tinney transfer from the Golden Dome to the University of Texas after an All-American sophomore season for the Irish. He’s picked up in Austin right where he left off in South Bend and is currently hitting .321 AVG, 20 HR, .475 OBP / .695 SLG / 1.170 OPS on the 2026 season. It’s plus right-handed power and a plus arm; with the numbers I have found indicating that Tinney has erased more than half of attempted base stealers over the past two seasons of college baseball. Tinney threw...
Tournaments | Story | 5/19/2026

Best of the Best Event Preview

Jheremy Brown
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In simplistic terms, the Best of The Best tournament is an absolute gauntlet as seemingly every game brings a playoff game atmosphere. Coaches must strategically map out their pitching to ensure they can get through Pool Play while also making sure they have arms to make a deep playoff run. Each and every age group is loaded with the best teams, composed of some of the best players that travel baseball has to offer. The 9u & 10u age groups will respectively have 9 out of the Top 10 Teams within the latest PG National Team Rankings participating in the event. At 9U, LTP-Reign will look to hold on to their #1 ranking but will have plenty of competition with the likes of ZT National Prospects and HTX-Wildcatters 9U looking to take over that #1 spot. In the 10u age group, Elevate National will look to fend off plenty of talent with #2 ranked Kaos National, East Cobb Astros and ZT...
College | Story | 5/19/2026

College Players of the Week: May 19

Vincent Cervino
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May 19th Perfect Game/Co-Players of the Week:  Carson Tinney, C, Texas  The Texas Longhorns just finished off another stellar regular season and are heading to Hoover for the SEC Conference Tournament as the No. 2 Seed this week.  To secure their 2nd place finish, they had to sweep Missouri at home last weekend and did so in large part to the power bat of Carson Tinney.  The 6-4/240 catcher from Castle Pines, CO transferred to Austin after two sensational seasons at Notre Dame and has thrived in his draft year.  In the 3-game set, Tinney collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats, scoring 5 runs, with a double, 3 home runs and he drove in 10 runs all told.  With some of the most prodigious power in the college game this year, Tinney is now slashing .321/.695/.473 with 10 doubles an incredible 20 home runs and 54 RBIs while playing in the most spacious ballpark in the...
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