Vanderbilt's possible repeat top on list of stories to watch

Sean Ryan

Vanderbilt's possible repeat top on list of stories to watch image

Oregon State earned back-to-back college baseball national championships in 2006-07. Three years later, South Carolina won its first of two straight national championships. Three years later, Vanderbilt walked away from the College World Series with its first national championship. 

Can the Commodores make it a trend by joining the Beavers and Gamecocks as repeat national champs?

Vandy is armed — well armed — and ready.

In a survey of Division I college baseball head coaches by CollegeBaseballInsider.com, Vanderbilt was tabbed a near lock to return to Omaha and was the overwhelming favorite to leave TD Ameritrade park as national champion. Of the 172 coaches who responded, 145 of them (84 percent) picked Vanderbilt to return to Omaha and 53 coaches (31 percent) to capture the title again. The Commodores also are the media’s consensus No. 1 team entering the season. 

As college baseball returned this week, all eyes are on the Commodores, who edged Virginia 3-2 in the winner-take-all third game of the championship series in Omaha on John Norwood’s eighth-inning homer. 

And why not? 

The Commodores return top-line arms in Carson Fulmer (7-1, 1.98 ERA), Walker Buehler (12-2, 2.64) and Tyler Ferguson (8-4, 2.69) and bats in Dansby Swanson (.333, 34 RBIs) and Bryan Reynolds (.338, 4 HR, 54 RBIs). 

According to the survey, Virginia (118), Florida (98), TCU (96), UCLA (91), LSU (81), Texas (75) and Louisville (52) are the favorites to join the Commodores in Omaha. If the Commodores don’t win the national championship, the Cavaliers (27) and Gators (12) are next in line per the coaches.

With those results in mind, here are five other stories to watch during the 2015 season. 

The new baseball

College baseball will welcome the use of a new baseball this season. The ball, which has flatter seams and is harder than the baseball used in previous seasons, was proposed as part of an effort to increase offense in the college game after the switch to a toned-down bat in 2011. Expect a slight uptick in runs and average overall, but don’t expect a dramatic change in Omaha, where pitching and defense — thanks to the cavernous and directionally challenged TD Ameritrade Park — will continue to be at a premium.

The Big (Big) Ten

It’s been building for some time, but the Big Ten’s time may be now. Purdue hosted a Regional in 2012, and Indiana reached Omaha in 2013 and hosted a Regional in 2014. The Hoosiers, under new coach and former Louisville assistant Chris Lemonis, will be strong again. But Big Ten newcomer Maryland, which lost a tight Super Regional series at Virginia last year, and Nebraska, coached by former big leaguer Darin Erstad, are the favorites. What makes it interesting is that a handful of other teams — led by an experienced, deep and talented Illinois — also could challenge in a league that should have multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament.   

Louisville’s new home

Louisville has reached Omaha each of the past two seasons. The Cardinals will take their act to the ACC, which is looking for its first national title since Wake Forest in 1955. A deep ACC got even deeper with the addition of Louisville, but how will the Cardinals stack up against the likes of Virginia, Florida State, North Carolina and Miami? Circle April 4-6, when the Cardinals travel to Charlottesville to meet the Cavaliers.

Who is this year’s Stony Brook/Kent State?

Stony Brook and Kent State crashed the College World Series in 2012, incredible feats led by head coaches Matt Senk and Scott Stricklin, who left the Golden Flashes and enters his second season at Georgia. College of Charleston reached the Super Regionals last year, dropping a pair of 1-0 games at Texas Tech, and was joined by Kennesaw State in the Supers.

What mid-majors have a shot to surprise? Start with the Cougars, who are led by former South Carolina assistant Monte Lee and will be tough again. Fellow CAA member William & Mary followed a Regional appearance in 2013 with a 34-22 campaign and an RPI of 71; the Tribe has a nice nucleus back. Liberty, out of the Big South and led by another former South Carolina assistant, Jim Toman, has been to the past two Regionals and appears poised to return; conference foe Campbell has won more than 40 games each of the past three years and will be guided by longtime assistant Justin Haire.

Sam Houston State, led by first-year coach and former Louisiana assistant Matt Deggs, has won the Southland Conference regular-season title the past three years and is looking to become the league’s first to win four straight. Canisius has won 40-plus games each of the past two seasons, including beating N.C. State and Carlos Rodon to open last season, and has many key parts back.   

Best in the West?

Since 2004, a team from the West has won the national title six times — Fullerton in 2004, Oregon State in 2006 and 2007, Fresno State in 2008, Arizona in 2012 and UCLA in 2013. The Pac-12 again will be similar to the SEC in that there are few, if any, weekend vacations. The Big West and West Coast Conference each could secure multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament. Keep an eye on UCLA, Oregon, Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State and Arizona State, under former Indiana coach Tracy Smith. And don’t sleep on Stanford, Pepperdine and Cal Poly.

SN contributor Sean Ryan is the co-founder and editor of CollegeBaseballInsider.com, which has covered Division I college baseball since 2002. A former college baseball player, sportswriter and business journalist, he works for public relations firm The Hodges Partnership (named after Gil Hodges, who should be in the Hall of Fame) and has been a high school head baseball coach for 14 years. Follow him on Twitter at @collbaseball.

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Sean Ryan