With the start of the 2015 college baseball season just three weeks away, the defending champion Vanderbilt Commodores have opened atop the rankings in all major college baseball pre-season polls.
The Commodores, who claimed their first College World Series title last spring by topping the Virginia Cavaliers in a hard-fought three-game series, will open the season at No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40 pre-season rankings.
Vandy got their 2014 season off to a fast start, winning 16 of their first 18 games, all against opponents from outside the Southeastern Conference, climbing as high as No. 3 in Collegiate Baseball’s Top 40.
But, while the Commodores finished the 2014 regular season with an overall record of 40-16, they sported an in-conference record of just 17-13, earning them the six seed in the 2014 SEC tournament.
The outlook looked bleak for the Commodores, who made a quick exit from the SEC tourney following a pair of lopsided losses to No. 14 LSU and No. 13 Ole Miss; defeats that dropped them to No. 19 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings. But with an invite in hand to the NCAA Tournament, the club received a second chance they would take full advantage of, dominating in Regional play and earning a College World Series berth by topping the Stanford Cardinal two games to one in the Super Regionals.
Vandy entered the College World Series as 3/1 betting favorites at sportsbooks available through www.bettingsports.com, posting wins over Louisville, UC Irvine and Texas before knocking off Virginia 3-2 in the third and deciding game to claim their first CWS championship.
The Cavaliers approach the upcoming regular season ranked No. 3 in Collegiate Baseball Poll. Virginia finished the 2014 season with an overall record of 47-14, and a record of 22-8 in conference play, good for second place in the ACC Coastal Division.
The TCU Horned Frogs get the nod as No. 2 in Collegiate Baseball’s pre-season rankings while D1Baseball.com ranks the Florida Gators in the two spot.
The Horned Frogs amassed a 48-18 record in 2014, going 17-7 against conference rivals and emerging as Big 12 tournament champions. TCU also joined the Commodores in the CWS, but failed to get past the second round.
The Gators dominated the SEC in 2014, posting an in-conference record of 21-9, to win the conference title, but came up short in the SEC tourney, falling 2-0 to LSU in the final.
The LSU Tigers, and Oklahoma State Cowboys round out the top five in Collegiate Baseball’s pre-season rankings, while the UCLA Bruins and South Carolina Gamecocks are pegged at No. 4 and No. 5 by D1Baseball.com.
The 2015 college baseball season gets underway in mid-February, with the Commodores beginning defense of their College World Series title on February 13, with a three-game series against the Santa Clara Broncos.
