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College  | Rankings | 1/6/2022

Preseason Division I Top 25

Photo: Perfect Game
College Preview Content: Perfect Game/Rawlings Preseason Collegiate All-Americans

College preview content is already underway as the world turns the calendar over from 2021 to 2022. Preseason All-Americans were released yesterday and next week we will rank the top seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, respectively, in Division-I. Perfect Game will be your ultimate home for all things college baseball as we’ll also have conference previews for every Division-I conference along with previews and breakdowns for Division-II, Division-III, NAIA, and JUCO baseball.
 
This was one of the more difficult years in choosing a preseason No. 1 as, legitimately, every team in the current top-10 was considered for the No. 1 spot at some point in the process. Vanderbilt opens the 2022 season as the No. 1 team in the country given their pedigree in recent years, returning starters on what should be a potent offense, and the talent of the pitching staff, some of which will be expected to take jumps in their second or third season. The Commodores featured a team high of three All-American selections with Dominic Keegan on the first team, Enrique Bradfield Jr. on the second team, and Nick Maldonado on the third team. There will be a full feature on Friday, Jan. 7 from Blake Dowson on Tim Corbin and the No. 1 Commodores.
 
The rest of the top-5 rounds out with two Omaha participants in 2021 with Texas at No. 2 and Stanford at No. 3. Texas returns a ton from an already very dangerous team and there’s experience throughout the Longhorns’ roster, while the Cardinal re-established themselves atop the Pac-12 and return one of the best players in the country in Brock Jones. LSU comes in at No. 4 in Jay Johnson’s first year at the helm in Baton Rouge, while Link Jarrett’s upstart Notre Dame opens at No. 5. LSU might legitimately be the best offense in the country as they’ll be led by transfer Jacob Berry along with Cade Doughty and Gavin Dugas along with super sophomores Dylan Crews, Tre’ Morgan, and Jordan Thompson. Notre Dame only really loses two pieces from what was an Omaha-caliber team and their roster is littered with various third or fourth-year guys who have won before and have a bevy of experience.
 
The defending champion Bulldogs come in at No. 6, which might be low for Mississippi State when looking at season’s end. They’ll need to replace their entire rotation along with some key offensive pieces, but we don’t envision Landon Sims having any trouble transitioning to Friday nights at The Dude. NC State opens at No. 7 eager to get the 2022 season started after a disappointing finish in Omaha, the influx of a strong freshman class along with veteran arms makes them dangerous. TCU opens at No. 8 as they should compete with Texas and Texas Tech for the Big 12. Arkansas is at No. 9 as they’ll need to replace Golden Spikes winner Kevin Kopps, but there’s no absence of talent on the pitching staff and the experienced offense will be led by Robert Moore and Cayden Wallace. Ole Miss rounds out the top-10 at No. 10 as they’ll need to replace weekend starters Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy, though the talent is there and of course captain Tim Elko returns.
 
Next week we will have full team breakdowns for the Top 25 along with blurbs on teams that just missed the cut in the 26-40 range. The rankings will be updated on Mondays following weekend series during the season. Make sure to follow along on Twitter for all things college baseball and Perfect Game.



@PerfectGameUSA | @PGCollegeBall | @vcervinoPG

Top 25 breakdown by conference:
SEC: 7 (Vanderbilt, LSU, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Florida)
ACC: 5 (Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami)
Big 12: 4 (Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State)
Pac 12: 4 (Stanford, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon)
Big West: 2 (UC Irvine, Long Beach State)
American: 1 (East Carolina)
Big 10: 1 (Nebraska)
ASUN: 1 (Liberty)

Rank Team 2021 Finish 2021 Rec. Conference
1 Vanderbilt 2 (49-18) SEC
2 Texas 3 (50-17) Big 12
3 Stanford 5 (39-17) Pac 12
4 Louisiana State 15 (38-25) SEC
5 Notre Dame 10 (34-13) ACC
6 Mississippi State 1 (50-18) SEC
7 North Carolina State 4 (37-19) ACC
8 TCU 22 (41-19) Big 12
9 Arkansas 9 (50-13) SEC
10 Ole Miss 11 (45-22) SEC
11 Georgia Tech NR (31-25) ACC
12 Texas Tech NR (39-17) Big 12
13 East Carolina 12 (44-17) AAC
14 Arizona 8 (45-18) Pac 12
15 Florida State NR (31-24) ACC
16 Oklahoma State NR (36-19-1) Big 12
17 UCLA NR (37-20) Pac 12
18 Miami NR (33-21) ACC
19 Oregon 17 (39-16) Pac 12
20 UC Irvine 20 (43-18) Big West
21 Tennessee 7 (50-18) SEC
22 Nebraska 19 (34-14) Big 10
23 Florida NR (38-22) SEC
24 Long Beach State NR (28-15) Big West
25 Liberty 25 (41-16) ASUN

College | Story | 5/25/2026

Field of 64 Projections

Vincent Cervino
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Last Four In First Four Out Next Four Out 61. Mercer 65. Kentucky 69. Kent State 62. TCU 66. Texas State 70. Gonzaga 63. Troy 67. Pittsburgh 71. Miami (OH) 64. UTSA 68. NC State 72. Campbell Auto-Bids ACC Georgia Tech A10 VCU America East Binghamton American East Carolina ASUN Lipscomb Big 10 UCLA Big 12 Kansas Big East St. John's Big South USC Upstate Big West Cal Poly CAA Northeastern CUSA Jacksonville State Horizon Milwaukee Ivy Yale MAAC Rider MAC Northern Illinois MVC UIC MWC Washington State NEC LIU OVC Little Rock Patriot Holy Cross SEC Georgia SoCon The Citadel Southland Lamar Summit South Dakota State Sun Belt Southern Miss SWAC Alabama State WAC Tarleton State WCC Saint Mary's  Teams by Conference SEC 11 ACC 8 Big 12 7 Big 10 4 Sun Belt 4 CUSA 3 American 2 Big West 2 SoCon 2 Los Angeles Regional Conference 1 (1) UCLA* Big 10 2 (32) Arizona State Big 12 3 Cal Poly* Big West...
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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