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Chase Shores (Photo by Eddie Kelly / ProLook Photos)
About a month after Tennessee beat Texas A&M to win the 2024 College World Series, a lot has happened to shape college baseball in 2025. The coaching carousel has just about stopped spinning, the transfer portal has slowed significantly and the MLB draft has concluded. There’s still time for surprises on all three fronts, but we now have a pretty good idea of what next season will look like.
So, it’s time to take a first stab at a 2025 Top 25. Records indicated are from 2024.
1. LSU (43-23, 13-17)
The Tigers this spring had to really hustle down the stretch to secure an NCAA Tournament berth, but by the time the season ended, they were playing just about as well as anyone. Coach Jay Johnson took some lessons from that experience and has relentlessly hit the recruiting trail this summer, landing an exceptional haul of both traditional recruits and transfers.
LSU has a lot to replace. All-American slugger Tommy White is gone, as is the 1-2 punch in the rotation of Gage Jump and Luke Holman, plus relief ace Griffin Herring. The Tigers return six players from their starting lineup at the end of the season, including shortstop Michael Braswell, first baseman Jared Jones and Freshman All-American Steven Milam. Righthander Chase Shores, a projected first-round pick, should be healthy after missing 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. The Tigers also landed elite portal commitments from second baseman Daniel Dickinson (Utah Valley) and righthander Anthony Eyanson—who both played for Team USA—and a slew of others, including outfielder Chris Stanfield (Auburn) and righthander Zac Cowan (Wofford). William Schmidt, the top prep righthander in the draft class, opted to come to school, giving LSU the highest ranked pitcher to make it to campus since Jack Leiter.
LSU has as much pure talent as anyone. Now it will be up to Johnson to manage that roster, and he’s proven to be very adept at that part of the job over the last two years.
2. Florida (36-30, 13-17)
The Gators undeniably had a down season for much of 2024, as they flirted with a losing record. And, yet, Florida ended the season as one of the last four teams playing. It took some big losses from that team, as All-American Jac Caglianone and closer Brandon Neely moved on to pro ball. But Florida is set to have another elite roster in 2025.
Shortstop Colby Shelton, catcher/first baseman Luke Heyman and…