A preseason question for every SEC baseball team

There are countless storylines for college baseball's top conference, the SEC, even before the season has started.

It arguably births the best ideas, thoughts and inquiries: no in-season stats, injuries or game results to be the judge. So, ahead of Opening Day, here is the biggest question surrounding all 16 teams in the SEC heading into the year.

Rankings are from the D1Baseball preseason poll.

No. 2 LSU: Can the Tigers go back-to-back?

Winning consecutive national championships is an improbable task in college baseball — only six programs have accomplished it since 1947. But doing that more than once? Only Southern California can claim that.

No. 2 LSU has the chance to join them, taking home the title in 1996 and 1997.

The Tigers lost most of their artillery after their title run to the 2025 MLB draft, but coach Jay Johnson has never had a problem restocking talent via the transfer portal or betting on a freshman star. Plus, LSU's foundation is already in place with specific players returning. 

Shortstop Steven Milan will captain the infield again and be an important bat in the lineup. Outfielder Derek Curiel is supposed to take another step forward after a strong All-SEC Second Team campaign as a freshman and will be joined by veterans Chris Stanfield and Jake Brown. Right-handers Casan Evans and Zac Cowan showed promise in the NCAA tournament.

LSU fell in the regional final to North Carolina in 2024, a year after the 2023 national championship. What’s in the store for this go-around?

No. 7 Arkansas: Is this the year Dave Van Horn makes it to the mountaintop?

2025 felt like "the year" for No. 7 Arkansas. 

The starting rotation featured two very talented arms in Zach Root and Gage Wood, who threw the third-ever no-hitter Men’s College World Series. The duo was backed by arguably the best offensive unit in the country headlined by Golden Spikes Award winner shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.

But in an instant — particularly a half inning — it was 2018 all over again, where a chain of unfortunate plays ended their season. 

Losing on a walk-off to LSU in the semifinals, it was the closest the Razorbacks had been to winning a national championship in seven years, a feat the program has never achieved.

Coach Dave Van Horn, 66, who played at Arkansas in 1982, now enters his 24th season at helm. After falling short with arguably one of his most talented squads in years, can the Razorbacks capture the one accolade that would cement Van Horn’s storied coaching career?

No. 3 Texas & No. 23 Vanderbilt: Is 2026 the year they return to dominance?

There aren’t many programs that can claim a decade as their own. A period where they've won multiple titles, fielded big-name players and was the school any youth baseball player aspired to play at.

That was No. 23 Vanderbilt in the 2010s and No. 3 Texas in the 2000s. 

Yet, the two teams haven’t been as successful across the last few seasons. Of course, each team has made the NCAA tournament every year, but not the MCWS in at least the last three years. The Commodores became the first-ever No. 1 overall seed to not reach the regional final in 2025, while Texas hasn’t made it to a super regional in the past two seasons.

Two titans of college baseball, their standard looks a lot different than most. Omaha is the expectation.

2026 marks the longest drought that Vanderbilt hasn't made the MCWS since its first appearance in 2011. The Longhorns have reached it at least once every three years since 2009. What conversations will be had if this season adds to the totals?

No. 14 Tennessee: Can Josh Elander take the Volunteers back to the MCWS in first-year?

There’s a new sheriff in town in Knoxville after former coach Tony Vitello headed West for the San Francisco Giants. 

Associate head coach Josh Elander was named the successor in October, and No. 14 Tennessee gave him the proper introduction.

The hunt continues...

— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball)

But now that the applause has quieted and cheers died down in preparation of the season, the season’s expectations still remain — returning to the Men’s College World Series. And doing it as a first-year head coach makes it even more difficult.

Just five have reached Omaha in their first season at the helm since 2010. 

The Volunteers return key pieces on the bump and to the lineup like utility Levi Clark, while scooping top talents in the transfer portal like Virginia’s Henry Ford, who was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. Will it be enough to etch Elander's name on the list of elite company?

No. 9 Auburn: Can the Tigers’ pitching staff keep up with their offensive horsepower?

There weren’t many SEC lineups that pitchers dreaded facing more than No. 9 Auburn in 2025. The Tigers held the third-best batting average (.304) and fourth-most hits (627). 

And part of that production is back this season. Second baseman Chris Rembert, who hit .344 last season, made the preseason All-SEC First Team, while catcher Chase Fralick (.335) and outfielder Bub Terrell (.300) were named to the second team. Those three are just a preview. 

The pitching staff wasn’t as successful, though, finishing with 4.70 ERA, the 11th-best ERA in the conference. Although they added strong arms in the transfer portal, the group collectively doesn’t have much SEC experience. 

This doesn’t mean Auburn’s pitching stopped them from reaching the MCWS last year, but it did reflect the team’s strengths, which might be the same theme in 2026 until proven otherwise. 

What's the ceiling for them if their pitching staff shows some promise?

No. 4 Mississippi State & No. 15 Georgia: Does heavy transfer portal strategy pay off? 

The transfer portal has been No. 15 Georgia’s best friend the last few seasons, and they got even closer in 2025. It was a massive overhaul, adding 20 players to the roster and for good reason — they were named most experience added team in the country, according to D1Baseball.

The coaching carousel led No. 4 Mississippi State to the portal, picking up longtime Virginia coach Brian O’Conner, who brought five of his best players with him. They added 14 players total and were ranked as the fifth-best transfer class, helping out preseason All-SEC First Team third baseman Ace Reese and utility Noah Sullivan.

The experience and talent is there for each team, but there’s more pieces of the pie that go into success. UGA experienced that the last two seasons, bringing in 15-plus players each year but losing in the 2024 supers and 2025 regionals. Mississippi State hasn’t reached a super regional since they won the MCWS in 2021.

Both teams are ranked top 15 nationally, Mississippi State at No. 4 and Georgia at No. 15, so the high expectations are there. Can they capitalize?

No. 13 Florida & No. 25 Texas A&M: Will they rebound from 2025?

2025 was an unusually off year for No. 13 Florida and No. 25 Texas A&M. 

It was the definition of forgettable for the Aggies. TAMU could smell the 2024 national championship, just two runs away from the title, and snagged the No. 1 spot in D1Baseball’s preseason top 25. The fall from grace came then, becoming the first preseason No. 1 team left out of the NCAA tournament since 1991. 

Florida never found its footing last season, finishing 15-15 in conference play and making headlines for the wrong reason — coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s profane rant at site administrators during the Gators’ NCAA regional in Conway, South Carolina. It was announced in August that he would be suspended for the first three games of the 2026 season.

It doesn’t get much worse than 2025 for two premier programs in the game. The positive side? A strong and successfully season could put rest in conversations of last year's dark veil. 

Will they bounce back in a major way?

No. 18 Kentucky, Alabama & Ole Miss: What do they have to do to take the next step?

There’s a gray area in the SEC. A group of teams that have the potential to make a deep NCAA tournament run, yet could also fall short in the regionals.

The trio of No. 18 Kentucky, Alabama and Ole Miss fit this description. They’ve combined for two MCWS appearances since 2022, but on the other hand, four regional exits and missing the tournament twice. 

So, what will the result be in 2026?

The Crimson Tide are spearheaded by arguably the best shortstop in the conference with Justin Lebron, the Rebels return a good amount of offensive firepower from last season to support left-handed ace Hunter Elliot and most of Wildcats’ production, coupled by a few transfers, is back. Each team looks talented on paper and good enough to be competitive in the SEC and NCAA tournament. 

However, to play in June, it takes some part of that team to ascend to the next level. What part will carry these squads over the hump?

South Carolina & Missouri & Oklahoma: Who will outperform expectations?

Luck hasn’t been on the side of teams ranked at the bottom of the barrel in the SEC preseason baseball coaches poll. Since 2018, at least two of the three teams predicted to end up with the worst three records have finished in one of the those spots, excluding 2020’s shortened year.

This year’s contestants include Oklahoma, South Carolina and Missouri, respectively. 

The Gamecocks and Tigers finished at the bottom of the SEC last season, combining for a 9-51 record in conference play. Missouri’s 3-27 output was the worst record in SEC history since the conference moved to a 30-game slate in 1996, while South Carolina’s 6-24 record was the worst-ever for the program. Oklahoma lost its twin tandem in starting right-handers Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon to the 2025 MLB Draft.

None of the teams is expected to move mountains in 2026, but which one(s) of them will overdeliver?