Selection Monday has set the stage for three weeks of thrilling baseball on the college diamond.
The selection committee also awarded eight programs with Super Regional seeds, which amount to a red carpet to Omaha. But which top team will take advantage?
Let's dive into my College World Series picks and NCAA baseball futures for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
College World Series Picks, Futures
The Bayou Bengals are one of the most accomplished programs in all of college athletics. Since 2000, they’ve won three national titles and have made it to Omaha nine times.
The common factor between those nine trips to the College World Series has been Alex Box Stadium. Each run started with a Super Regional seed, which gave them the luxury of playing on their home diamond until they packed their bags for Omaha.
The committee gave LSU the sixth overall seed and some favorable competition in their pod.
In terms of slugging, LSU draws Dallas Baptist (12th), Rhode Island (27th) and Little Rock (231st). The Patriots and Rams can hit, but their pitching staffs are not up to snuff.
Dallas Baptist's staff ERA hovers around 5.00, and when it faced off against LSU this season, it trotted out its ace, Ryan Borberg. He acclimated to the competition nicely but was tapped out by the fourth inning. The DBU bullpen got rocked following his exit, and LSU cruised to a 7-3 win on the Patriots' home diamond.
Rhode Island, meanwhile, is bringing even less to the hill. The Rams’ rotation is headlined by Trystan Levesque, a lefty who has been an inning-eater for URI this season. He threw 10 innings against Oregon earlier this season and has the command and stuff to silence just about any lineup that gets thrown at him.
But after Levesque, the Rams' arms fall off a cliff. They’re second and third starters have been pounded, and it’s likely that if they sneak past DBU, they’ll have to send Jeremy Urena to the mound to face this dangerous LSU lineup.
Urena faced only one team that made the NCAA Tournament in Oregon, and the Ducks ran him off after 5 1/3 innings worth of work that saw eight hits and four earned runs.
This LSU lineup, particularly Jared Jones and Daniel Dickinson, should give Urena fits.
At a reasonable price of -215 to win the Bation Rouge Regional, I’m backing LSU to advance.
Once LSU makes it to the Super Regionals, it'll likely draw Clemson or West Virginia. Neither team cracks the top 100 in terms of slugging, and their starting pitching leaves plenty to be desired after you get through their aces.
Clemson’s Aidan Knaak can touch the mid-90s on his fastball and can coax bad swings out of batters when his 12-6 curveball is dialed in. His changeup has been lethal at times this season as well, but consistency remains an issue, evidenced by an ERA north of 4.00.
West Virginia’s top arm, Jack Kartsonas, has been one of the best stories in college baseball.
He’s climbed the baseball ladder from John Carroll and Kent State to West Virginia. He battled through multiple arm surgeries and made the transition from the bullpen to the Mountaineers’ rotation this season. However, he lacks big-game starting experience with just seven starts on his résumé this season.
LSU’s lineup starts with seven batters averaging over .300 from the dish. I have faith in the Tigers’ bats to get the job done against these thin staffs.
As for the pitching required to win it all, LSU has two elite starters to give it a chance in Omaha.
Anthony Eyanson has been nothing short of spectacular of late. His fastball pops the mitt at 97 MPH, and his breaking stuff (12-6 curve, slurve) have become strikeout pitches in his arsenal. In his last six outings against SEC competition, his ERA has been a microscopic 1.47.
If you find a way to rattle Eyanson, your reward is a date with Kade Anderson, who has been a strikeout artist of the highest order this season. The lefty gives shades of Max Fried and has the Major League-level breaking stuff to go with a plus-fastball.
He has struck out 64 batters across his last six starts, and if he carries the Bayou Bengals to a national title, you’ll be hearing his name early in this summer’s MLB Draft.
