NCAA Baseball: Who Are the Teams to Watch in Other Conferences?
A quick look at who’s hot and who’s not outside the Big 12
With TCU Baseball being hard to watch currently, it might be time to take a look at some teams around the nation that are making noise. From teams that seem fraudulent, to teams that seem severely underrated, these are the teams to keep an eye on in the future.
Clemson
This past weekend, Florida State visited Clemson for a 3-game series. Florida State started this series on Saturday 19-0. 3 days later the Seminoles were 19-3. I’ll let you connect the dots as to what happened. The Tigers have roared all the way to the #3 team in the nation with even more to prove down the road as they will face Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, who can both get hot very quickly, in back-to-back weekends in early May.
Kentucky
One team that nobody expected to be sitting atop the SEC is the Kentucky Wildcats. While their strength of schedule hasn’t been great, the Wildcats have shown flashes of being a team that can hang with any team in the nation. Pitching depth is the name of the game for this team, as they have several qualified pitchers with ERAs below 3.50. The Wildcats face #22 Ole Miss this weekend in Oxford in what will be a real test for this Kentucky team.
Wake Forest
Wake Forest is on this list of teams to watch, but not for the reason you would think. While Chase Burns has solidified himself as one of the Top 3 pitchers in college baseball, the bullpen remains questionable for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is currently 4-5 in conference play, with series losses to Virginia and Duke. The eye-opener here is that the Deacons haven’t played some of the best teams in the ACC, as they have yet to play Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Florida State.
Mississippi State
Last year, Mississippi State finished the year 27-26, a step up from their losing season in 2021, but still underperforming by their standards. This team caught the eye of many after taking the series against LSU in dominant fashion. The Bulldogs won game 1 of the 3-game series 10-4 and then run-ruled LSU after eight innings by a score of 15-5 in game 3. While the Bulldogs dropped the series against Texas A&M, the win over LSU was enough to keep them in the conversation as one of the premiere teams in college baseball.
East Carolina
One thing that wasn’t on anybody’s bingo cards this past weekend was UTSA taking down #15 East Carolina. While the AAC isn’t necessarily weak, there isn’t a team in the AAC that has the talent that East Carolina has. Many will chalk this series loss up to just baseball being an odd game. One thing that makes the Pirates a must watch is their ability to play up to their competition.
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