Projecting the top teams prior to any given college baseball season is no easy task.  Texas A&M was a favorite on many lists a year ago, but the Aggies didn’t even make it to the Super Regionals and finished sixth in the Big 12 standings.

Last year my top four teams (North Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, LSU and Texas) all made it to Omaha, finishing fifth, tied for seventh, first and second, respectively.  All but North Carolina, which lost a significant collection of players to professional baseball in Dustin Ackley, Alex White, Kyle Seager and Mark Fleury, are expected to make it back to the College World Series again this year.

While Texas lost some significant talent of its own,  most of its pitching staff returns, largely regarded as the reason it was so successful. A few other publications have chosen the Longhorns as their preseason No.1 team, and my list will also start with Texas on top. The Longhorns are poised to make the next step after finishing second in Omaha a year ago.

Keep in mind, this is not Perfect Game’s official college poll, just my own interpretation of how the standings could shake out come June. Stay tuned for Perfect Game’s official preseason poll, expected to be released very soon.

1.  Texas Longhorns

As noted above, I’m guessing the Longhorns will be a unanimous selection as the No.1 team to open the season, and they will be put to test early as they host Stanford in late February and will participate in the Astros College Classic tournament in early March before the Big 12 Conference slate kicks off.

The team is personified by Coach Augie Garrido, well known for his small-ball tactics on offense, asking each and every one of his hitters to be willing and able to bunt players over while constantly pressuring the opposing team’s defense.

And the Longhorns may not have to score many runs given their pitching staff.  Taylor Jungmann, Brandon Workman, Chance Ruffin, Cole Green and Austin Dicharry all return to arguably form the nation’s most potent staff. The depth may allow one of these pitchers to be used as the team’s closer, or at least a more diversified swing role, filling a similar spot held down by Austin Wood the past two seasons.

There is some pop in the lineup as well, anchored by Kevin Keyes, who is moving from right field to first base to fill the spot vacated by Brandon Belt, and a former Aflac All-American teammate, catcher Cameron Rupp. Senior Russell Moldenhauer offers a professional approach and veteran leadership, while outfielders Tant Shepherd and Connor Rowe are expected to take significant steps forward this year. Freshman Jonathan Walsh may make a case for extended playing time, possibly giving Rupp some much needed days off while also filling in at first base and the DH spot.

Defensively the Longhorns are strong as well, particularly on the left side of the infield thanks to shortstop Brandon Loy and third baseman Kevin Lusson. Both are also expected to play more productive roles in the starting lineup.

The Longhorns aren’t completely flawless, but this team didn’t lose much from last year when it finished second to LSU in the College World Series.

2.  LSU Tigers

LSU fans don’t expect to be the second-ranked team by the time the college season is all said and done, and they very well may be proved correct. Every team loses integral talent from year-to-year, and the Tigers, possibly more so than any other, has a ton of talent that could step up and amply replace the lost production.

So that’s my disclaimer for saying I still like LSU, but the Tigers need to prove they can make up for losing dynamic outfielder Jared Mitchell, infielders D.J. LeMahieu and Ryan Schimpf, and the SEC pitcher of the year, Louis Coleman.

They did get a break when Blake Dean, the heart and soul of the team’s offense, decided to return to school. Dean got off to a rather slow start a year ago after posting incredible numbers during his sophomore year, but finished the season incredibly strong. While he’s short on tools, he continues to get the job done and has already built his legacy as one of the program’s greatest players.

Anthony Ranaudo is the biggest draft story, a candidate to go first overall come June, as he returns to once again assume the role of staff ace. Sophomore Matty Ott will be closing games with his usual nasty slider, giving LSU one of the better starter/closer combos in the game.

Catcher Micah Gibbs looks to bounce back this year as a potential first-round pick, while Mikie Mahtook is looking to build off a very promising freshman campaign.  Fellow outfielder Leon Landry and infielder Tyler Hanover also return, meaning this team will once again have no problems scoring runs. The team should also be solid defensively, with good athletes at each and every position.

Rounding out the pitching staff won’t be a problem with Austin Ross, Joey Bourgeois and Mitch Mormann filling in some of the more critical roles, from weekend and weekday starters to a more versatile swing capacity.

3.  Florida Gators

The Gators are what you would call my first surprise team, although plenty of other people consider them a top-10 program nationally. I really liked what I saw from them a year ago, and given how dominant LSU should be in the SEC West, Florida could be equally dominant in the East.

And it’s not necessarily star power that leads me to this ranking, although Coach Kevin O’Sullivan has recruited some very talented classes the past two years. The team’s depth and versatility are particularly intriguing to me.

It always starts with the pitching, and while they lost several key contributors to the draft a year ago, including their bullpen stopper Billy Bullock, they also have a nice handful of key returnees. Lefties Nick Maronde and Alex Panteliodis, as well as righties Anthony DeSclafini, Justin Poovey and Greg Larson, all look to build off promising freshman years and give the team plenty of options for the weekend rotation. Medical red-shirt sophomore Tommy Toledo is also looking to build off a strong freshman campaign, although his took place two years ago, missing the 2009 season due to a shoulder injury. Toledo also figures to battle for a starting spot.

Given how the staff was handled a year ago, it’s quite possible that all of these pitchers are used in a broad, versatile role, filling in however they’re deemed necessary on a week-by-week basis. Talented freshmen Michael Heller, Brian Johnson, Hudson Randall and Steven Rodriguez could piece together the bullpen in a similar fashion.

While Matt den Dekker’s season a year ago was disappointing, it did allow him to slip in the draft, as he decided to return for his senior season to help lead this young team. He’s flanked in center by a pair of Pigott brothers, Daniel and Jonathan, that should form one of the most productive outfields in Division I baseball.

Second baseman Josh Adams returns to solidify the infield defense, with first baseman Preston Tucker providing a big bulk of the power in the middle of the team’s lineup. Prized recruit Austin Maddox figures to receive playing time both behind the plate, with sophomore Ben McMahan, as well as at DH.

4.  Virginia Cavaliers

Coach Brian O’Connor has quietly put together some solid teams over the years, and has graduated quite a few players onto success at the professional level.  This year’s club appears to have a nice balance of offensive firepower and quality pitching that could allow them to improve upon their sixth-place finish in Omaha last June.

Sophomore Danny Hutlzen, last year’s ACC Freshman of the Year, is the player to watch, offering significant contributions on both offense and on the mound, similar to former Cavalier Sean Doolittle.

The team’s entire starting lineup returns, including outfielders Jarrett Parker (one of the top prospects available for this year’s draft) and Dan Grovatt, as well as infielders Phil Gosselin, Tyler Cannon and Steven Proscia. This group is very athletic and should give the team a very strong defense as well, with steady gloves on the infield and plenty of range in the outfield.

Right-handed pitchers Tyler Wilson and Robert Morey return to possibly give Virginia one of the stronger weekend rotations along with Hultzen, but the team will need to have some young arms step up to replace the likes of Andrew Carraway, Jeff Lorick, Matt Packer and Robert Pourier. Steady closer Kevin Arico, who recorded 11 saves a year ago, is back to assume the same role.

Even if the pitching doesn’t come together as well as Virginia hopes it does, this team should simply out-score its opponents, both inside and out of the highly competitive ACC, on a regular basis.

5.  TCU Horned Frogs

One of these years Coach Schlossanagle and his Horned Frogs are going to make it to Omaha, and with their pitching, along with prized recruit Matt Purke, I think this is the year they get it done.

And the pitching goes a lot further past Purke, who wisely won’t be shouldering too much of the team’s expectations. Live-armed Kyle Winkler defies his smallish stature with a wicked repertoire, and Steven Maxwell is fully healthy after having Tommy John surgery two years ago, causing him to miss most of the 2008 season and part of last year. Those three appear to have starting spots locked down for the coming season.

Trent Appleby, Paul Gerrish, Greg Holle, Tyler Lockwood, Caleb Merck and Erik Miller all return after providing more than half of the team’s innings from a year ago, and will be looked upon to fill in the blanks among the weekend and weekday starters, as well as the specialty bullpen roles.

Closer Eric Marshall is one of the best in the nation, and he should be able to come in and close down plenty of close games late this year.  That may be needed, as the pitching should hold its own, but the offense has some big question marks.

That’s because TCU lost its top three hitters from a year ago in Matt Vern, Matt Carpenter and Chris Ellington. However, the Frogs do return their next four best starting regulars from a year ago: Shortstop Taylor Featherston,  outfielder Jason Coats, first baseman Matt Curry and catcher Bryan Holaday, each of whom hit at least .300.

The team will look upon two more freshmen to fill two more key roles on the team.  The speedy Kyle Von Tunglen will be asked to play centerfield and hit towards the top of the lineup, while corner outfielder Josh Elander could provide some much-needed thump in the lower-third of the lineup.

6.  Rice Owls

I really like the Owls’ lineup, a group that includes seven returning starters, highlighted by sensational sophomore third baseman Anthony Rendon. He hit .388 with 20 home runs and 72 RBI a year ago on his way to receiving just about every freshman of the year honor.

His teammates did a great job providing a very solid supporting cast. Outfielders Michael Fuda, Steven Sultzbaugh and Chad Mozingo,  as well as shortstop Rick Hague, all hit .319 or better on a team that collectively hit .320/.392/.490. Catcher Diego Seastrunk and first baseman Jimmy Comerota provide valuable, senior leadership. Versatile outfielders Ryan Lewis and Jeremy Rathjen give the team some nice depth.

Rice, of course, has always been known for its pitching, at least for as long as Wayne Graham has been steering the ship. While the Owls won’t have Ryan Berry back from last year, they did learn to sustain without him last season as he was lost for over a month due to injury. He did return strong late in the year as the Owls came up short in their quest for Omaha, but this year they may have a similar situation as Mike Ojala rehabs from Tommy John surgery. He could return by midseason to provide a valuable veteran arm to the staff for a late-season push.

Sophomore left-hander Taylor Wall returns to serve as the team’s Friday ace and will be looking to improve on a very strong freshman season. Closer Matt Evers didn’t enjoy as strong a sophomore year as he did his first season with Rice as a freshman, but he also returns and looks to bounce back and have a strong season as the team’s late-inning stopper.

Senior righties Jared Rogers and Matt Haynes, as well as sophomore righties Andrew Benak and Matthew Reckling, also return to provide depth in the pitching staff. All four have experience both starting and coming out of the bullpen, giving the team versatile options as they try to round out their pitching staff keeping a spot warm for Ojala’s return.

7.  Florida State Seminoles

It’s nearly impossible to bet against the Seminoles on a year-to-year basis, a well-run program thanks to long-time Coach Mike Martin that always finds a way to put itself in the hunt for Omaha.

And the Seminoles are returning plenty of productive players, highlighted by six members of their starting lineup. The rest of the lineup should be filled by players who contributed on the team from a year ago, and in particular the heart of their order, Steven Cardullo, Stuart Tapley and Mike McGee, combined for 42 home runs and 189 RBI last year.

Centerfielder Tyler Holt, who hit .401 a year ago with 23 double and 34 stolen bases, makes the offense go at the top of the order, and he also shows a patient eye at the plate, getting on base 52% of the time.

McGee doubles as one of the team’s better starting pitchers, joining fellow returnees Sean Gilmartin and Brian Busch in the weekend rotation.  This trio accounted for 24 of the team’s 45 wins from a year ago, and started 41 of the team’s 63 games. Geoff Parker, Tyler Everett, Hunter Scantling and John Gast also  return to fill the rest of the important starting, swing and short-relief roles, collectively accounting for almost a third of the team’s innings pitched.

Buster Posey’s younger brother Jack will continue to fill a versatile role as a two-way talent, filling key roles both as an infielder and as a member of the team’s bullpen.

With the amount of productivity returning, the Seminoles are gunning for Omaha after getting knocked out of their own Super Regional last year.

8.  Cal State Fullerton Titans

I really wanted to place Cal State Fullerton higher than this, but having them eighth still would place them in Omaha come June. While the Titans always have plenty of talent to fill in holes on their roster, they lost too many productive bats for me to place them among the top two to three teams in the nation.

I do believe that first baseman and left-handed pitcher Nick Ramirez is poised to make a big step forward this year. He hit .287 with 10 home runs a year ago while also going 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA out of the Titans’ bullpen. I expect his batting average to be on the other side of the .300 mark when it’s all said and done, and although he doesn’t throw particularly hard, he has a great changeup that should allow him to record plenty of outs.

Daniel Renken is the team’s ace, and he along with Tyler Pill (who like Ramirez is an everyday starter in the lineup as an outfielder) return to their usual weekend spots after they both went 11-3 last year. Sophomore Noe Ramirez also returns after going 9-2 a year ago, meaning the team’s weekend rotation remains intact from the team that tied for seventh at the College World Series last year.

They have plenty of options to round out the rest of the pitching staff, including seniors Ryan Ackland, Kyle Mertins, juniors Kevin Rath and Raymond Hernandez, and sophomore David Hurbut. As shown with both Nick and Noe Ramirez, as well as Tyler Pill, Dave Serrano isn’t afraid of throwing freshmen into integral roles on his team, and the same may hold true for talented recruit Dylan Floro.

Gary Brown moves to centerfield full-time, taking the spot from Josh Fellhauer.  Brown excelled at the position last summer as a Cape all-star, while shortstop and team captain Christian Colon is expected to be fully healthy from a broken leg sustained last summer while playing for Team USA. Those two will make the top of the order go, with Nick Ramirez and Pill providing much of the team’s power.

The Titans have a few more question marks in their starting lineup, and how those questions are answered ultimately will determine where this team finishes.

9.  UC Irvine Anteaters

UC Irvine may have lost the Big West Player of the Year in speedy shortstop Ben Orloff, but it did get a break when staff ace Daniel Bilbona returned for his senior year. Fellow senior and weekend starter Christian Bergman is also back, as well as junior Crosby Slaught, who collectively went 29-4 last year with a 3.73 ERA.  That of course will make them a tough opponent on any given weekend.

Another senior and one of the nation’s most accomplished closers, Eric Pettis, is also back. He finished last year posting his second consecutive season with 17 saves, a number that was tied for third in the nation last year.

As good as Irvine’s situation is in the weekend rotation and at closer, they will be relying on a stable of relatively unproven underclassmen to make up for the lost innings of Noel Avison, Brock Bardeen, Matt Dufour and Cory Hamilton.  Sophomores Nick Hoover and Matt Summers are the most likely to shoulder a big chunk of this load, while some combination of freshmen Evan Brock, Andrew Bynum, Kyle Hooper, Mitch Merten, Ruben Orozco and Matt Whitehouse will be asked to fill in the rest.

Infielder sCasey Stevenson and Brian Hernandez also return to the team after being drafted last June and will likely form the core of the order with catcher Francis Larson, first baseman Jeff Cusick, outfielders Drew Hillman and Cory Olson, and catcher/DH Ronnie Shaeffer. This group won’t post big numbers in the power department, but that isn’t the Anteaters’ style of play anyway. They, like Cal State Fullerton and even Texas, play an aggressive, small-ball type of offensive game in which contact and speed are emphasized.

I made it a point not to overlook the Anteaters again this year, who proved after their surprise run in Omaha in 2008 that they are a legitimate team to deal with.  After getting knocked out in the Regionals, which they hosted, they are hungry to return to the College World Series.

10.  Arkansas Razorbacks

I’m buying the Razorbacks’ success from a year ago, which included an inspired, late season run to Omaha, largely due to the amount of exciting pro talent the team possesses.

The lineup will be anchored by three powerful hitters in first baseman Andy Wilkins, third baseman Zack Cox and outfielder Brett Eibner. This trio accounted for 44 home runs a year ago, a number that could easily go up if both Cox and Eibner enjoy better overall seasons at the plate as expected.

The rest of the supporting cast is made up primarily of sophomores that are looking to take big steps forward. This group includes catcher James McCann, infielders Bo Bigham and Tim Carver, as well as outfielders Collin Kuhn and Jarrod McKinney.

Eibner also serves as one of the team’s weekend starters, and overall is a very good athlete with an exciting power arm/bat combination. Lefty Drew Smyly looks to take a big step forward this year after receiving more appearances as the season progressed a year ago, and also factors into the weekend rotation.

Overall the pitching isn’t as deep on this team, although they may be tempted to turn to Cox for bullpen help even though he is expected to focus on hitting. The lack of proven options may push senior Mike Bolsinger into a starting role, and the development of freshman D.J. Baxendale will also play a big part in the decision as to how Bolsinger is used this coming year. Fellow righties T.J. Forrest and Sam Murphy, as well as lefty transfer Jason Fuqua will also be relied upon to help fill in the blanks.

This team shouldn’t have problems scoring runs, but stopping them at times may be an issue.

Just missed:  Arizona State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Oregon State.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.