College baseball preview: Preseason rankings, prospects, what to watch – CBSSports.com

Soon enough, the winding journey to the College World Series in Omaha begins in earnest. Lo and also behold: You indeed do hear the approaching hoof-beats of meaningful, for-keeps baseball. In February, no less!

So to set the tone for all of this action to come, let’s preview the upcoming season. Consider this your first look at who’s going to replace Virginia atop the college baseball heap (note: it quite possibly could be Virginia!).

To get started, let’s take a look at some composite rankings. What we’ve done is taken each of the six major preseason polls (Baseball America, Perfect Game, Coaches’ poll, D1Baseball.com, Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association) and assigned points to each team ranked in the top 25 of each poll. No. 1-ranked teams get 25 points, No. 2-ranked teams get 24 points, all the way down to the No. 25-ranked teams, which get one point. So we add all the points up — across, again, all six major polls — and arrive at our composite rankings. So here they are, with point totals in parentheses …

Composite preseason top 25

1. Florida (150)
2. Louisville (144)
T-3. Texas A&M (133)
T-3. Vanderbilt (133)
5. Oregon State (119)
6. Miami-FL (117)
7. LSU (114)
8. Virginia (106)
9. California (96)
10. UCLA (93)
11. Oklahoma State (86)
12. Louisiana-Lafayette (83)
13. Oregon (70)
14. TCU (63)
15. Mississippi State (57)
T-16. Florida State (55)
T-16. Houston (55)
18. N.C. State (49)
19. Cal State Fullerton (43)
20. USC (38)
21. North Carolina (29)
22. Michigan (18)
23. South Carolina (14)
24. Coastal Carolina (13)
25. Oklahoma (12)

(Others receiving points: Arkansas, 11; Missouri, 11; Missouri State, 10; Rice, 8; Tulane, 7; Georgia Tech, 5; Texas, 3; Mississippi, 2; Notre Dame, 2; Kentucky, 1; Texas Tech, 1)

As you may have already surmised, Florida is ranked No. 1 in all six preseason polls. That stands to reason, given that they made the College World Series last year and return many core contributors for 2016 (including junior lefty A.J. Puk — more on him in a moment).

Reigning national champion Virginia checks in at No. 8, and runner-up (and 2014 champ) Vanderbilt is tied for third. In all, seven of last year’s College World Series teams (Florida, Vanderbilt, Miami-FL, LSU, Virginia, TCU and Cal State Fullerton) are ranked in the composite top 25, and the eighth team — Arkansas — narrowly missed.

And what of the conferences? Let’s add up all the “poll points” by conference and see what comes out of the wash. Consider these to be your preseason conference “Power Rankings” …

Preseason conference power rankings

1. SEC, 626 points
2. ACC, 507
3. Pac-12, 416
4. Big 12, 165
5. Sun Belt, 83
6. American Athletic, 62
7. Big West, 43
8. Big Ten, 18
9. Big South, 13
10. Missouri Valley, 10
11. Conference USA, 8

As you can see, the SEC lords over all, at least when it comes to preseason expectations. That comes as no surprise considering that SEC teams occupy three of the top four spots, four of the top 10, and six of the top 25. In all, 10 SEC teams were ranked in the top 25 by at least one of the six polls. The ACC also makes a strong showing with six teams in the composite top 25.

Big games

What follows is certainly not an exhaustive list of high-leverage 2016 contests, but here are all the scheduled match-ups between teams in the top 10 of our composite preseason rankings …

2/26 – Florida at Miami-FL
2/27 – Florida at Miami-FL
2/28 – Florida at Miami-FL
3/18 – Lousville at Miami-FL
3/19 – Lousville at Miami-FL
3/20 – Lousville at Miami-FL
3/24 – Oregon State at California
3/24 – LSU at Texas A&M
3/25 – Oregon State at California
3/25 – LSU at Texas A&M
3/25 – Virginia at Louisville
3/26 – Oregon State at California
3/26 – LSU at Texas A&M
3/26 – Virginia at Louisville
3/27 – Virginia at Louisville
4/1 – UCLA at California
4/1 – Texas A&M at Florida
4/2 – UCLA at California
4/2 – Texas A&M at Florida
4/3 – UCLA at California
4/3 – Texas A&M at Florida
4/7 – Vanderbilt at LSU
4/8 – Vanderbilt at LSU
4/9 – Vanderbilt at LSU
4/22 – Virginia at Miami-FL
4/23 – Virginia at Miami-FL
4/24 – Virginia at Miami-FL
5/5 – Vanderbilt at Texas A&M
5/6 – Vanderbilt at Texas A&M
5/7 – Vanderbilt at Texas A&M
5/10 – Louisville at Vanderbilt
5/13 – Vanderbilt at Florida
5/14 – Vanderbilt at Florida
5/15 – Vanderbilt at Florida
5/19 – Florida at LSU
5/20 – Florida at LSU
5/21 – Florida at LSU
5/27 – UCLA at Oregon State
5/28 – UCLA at Oregon State
5/29 – UCLA at Oregon State

Top 10 draft-eligible college prospects

Now let’s talk individual players, and let’s talk about them with an eye toward the June MLB draft. To this end, I consulted with Baseball Prospectus prospect analyst Chris Crawford (@CrawfordChrisV on Twitter), . Here are Crawford’s top 10 draft-eligible college prospects heading into the 2016 season (note: brief comments under each name are mine) …

1. A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida

Plus-plus fastball velocity, hard slider, promising changeup.

2. Alec Hanson, RHP, Oklahoma

Approaches triple digits with his fastball, solid curve and changeup. Was limited by some arm problems in the fall.

3. Corey Ray, OF, Louisville

Good bat speed, power to all fields, lots of swing-and-miss, will stick in center, excellent speed on the bases.

4. Connor Jones, RHP, Virginia

Touches mid-90s, plus slider and changeup.

5. Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer

Quick bat, power, profiles as true defensive center fielder, athletic, has thrived in wood-bat summer leagues.

6. Nick Banks, OF, Texas A&M

Excellent power, one of the best outfield throwing arms in the draft.

7. Matt Krook, LHP, Oregon

Missed 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery but impressed in Cape Cod League. Good velocity, plus secondary stuff.

8. Ryan Boldt, OF, Nebraska

Strong, athletic, quick bat, line drive swing, excellent plate coverage, may be able to stick at center, probably lacks arm for right.

9. Bobby Dalbec, 3B, Arizona

Has a major-league arm at third and projects to hit for above-average power.

10. Cal Quantrill, RHP, Stanford

Strong fastball-changeup combo, very polished, high floor, should move quickly through whatever system drafts him.

A little history

Let’s put a cap on this with a little college baseball history in graphical form. Here’s how many national championships each program has won …

Yep, Southern Cal has the most by a wide margin, but it’s worth noting that the Trojans haven’t won the College World Series since 1998. Speaking of the College World Series, Texas has the most all-time appearances with 35.

Thus begins the march to late May, when the 64-field tournament will be announced. Enjoy this, our baseball in all its pleasing forms!