Mattyice’s 2024 College Baseball Season Preview:
At last, the 2024 College Baseball season is upon us. Before we get into that, let’s recap the 2023 season. Last year was the first season we tracked college baseball bets and it was a fun one. We finished up 28.63 units with a record of 87-74. 19.38 units were from the regular season and postseason while adding on 9.25 units with our LSU futures. We got LSU futures in before the postseason started and hit them once more live during the College World Series.
What did we learn last year? The SEC was loaded and continues to be a gauntlet and produce MLB prospects. Can we expect the same for 2024? 100%. College Baseball continues to run through the SEC down south. Having said that, there are a bunch of teams that provide upside heading into the 2024 season that can give the SEC a run for its money.
SEC:
- Teams I Am High On – Florida, LSU, Kentucky
- Teams Who Disappoint – Vanderbilt, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee
- Sneaky Upside – Texas A&M, Arkansas, South Carolina
The SEC will beat each other up throughout the season, but to me, it’s between LSU and Florida who will compete for the SEC title and make it to Omaha. They both have the offensive firepower and pitching to back it up.
Big Ten:
- Teams I Am High On – Indiana and Maryland
- Team Who Disappoints – Iowa
- Under the Radar – Nebraska
Iowa is the favorite coming into the season in the Big Ten, but I don’t think they perform as well as they did in 2023, specifically in the offensive production. The Big Ten has a lot of good pitching, which I think favors someone like Indiana. Maryland has the offensive production to win this conference, but finding the right mix of pitching will need to be found to make a run this year.
ACC:
- Teams I Am High On – Wake Forest and Virginia
- Team Who Disappoints – North Carolina
- Sneaky Upside – Duke, Clemson, Miami
The ACC is clear to me. Wake Forest is the most dominant team in this conference and will make its return to Omaha. Someone who I’d watch out for to have a good year is Duke. I love their pitching staff and, if their offense can give them enough production, they will win a lot of ball games.
Pac 12:
- Teams I Am High On – Oregon St. and Stanford
There is not a whole lot I like out west in the Pac 12 this year. Oregon St. and Stanford will compete for the top spots, but I love Oregon St. this year. Oregon St. has one of the best players in the country in Travis Bazzana, who will lead this offense. This team is going score a lot of runs this year.
Big 12:
- Teams I Am High On – Texas, TCU, and Oklahoma St.
- Teams Who Disappoint – Kansas St. and Oklahoma
- Sneaky Upside – Texas Tech and West Virginia
The Big 12 has some solid teams this year and is going to be fun to watch. TCU is my favorite of this bunch and I almost put a future on them, but want to see how their offense and lineup shakes out this year. Texas returns two great pitchers this year, which will play a huge factor in weekend series, alongside some of the most power in this conference in their lineup. A team I can see making some noise this year is WVU. WVU will be led by JJ Wetherholt, who should be a top pick in this coming draft, while also returning a lot of players from last year.
Mattyice’s Mid Major Darlings:
- Dallas Baptist, UC Santa Barbara, ECU, Northeastern, and Troy
CWS Futures:
- Wake Forest +700
- Oregon St +2500
