*Photo from Notre Dame Athletics*
Since we remain in the midst of the MLB lockout, and there is no sign there will be a conclusion soon, I put up a poll on the Strikeout Central twitter page, asking the followers if they would like to see college baseball game recaps if there is a delay to the MLB season. The majority said yes, so I figured that if there would be college baseball game recaps, I should do some season previews.
So, starting today and continuing for the next 4 days, I'll be doing season previews for the power 5 conferences in the NCAA. Those are the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12. We start things off today with the ACC. Simply put, anyone could take this conference, but let's look at the top teams.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Let's start off with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. They lost an impact bat from last season in Niko Kavadas to the Boston Red Sox in the MLB draft, which is certainly a loss, but they have some guys who can make up for it. Ryan Cole, Jack Brannigan, Spencer Myers, and Brooks Cotzee will be the guys in the lineup who will need to have good seasons at the plate if Notre Dame wants to make it anywhere this season.
On the pitching side of the equation, junior Ryan McLinskey joins Notre Dame after transferring from Seton Hall, where he was their Friday night starter, a big chance for a college pitcher. Matt Lazzaro joins the Irish after stints with Houston and Furman, and should help a bullpen that looks like one of the best in the conference.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Everything for Georgia Tech starts with Kevin Parada, a first round and possible top 10 selection in the 2022 MLB Draft. His skills are undoubted, and he gets help from UAB transfer Caleb Simpson, along with returning players Drew Compton and Tres Gonzalez in the lineup. The pitching is where things get dicey. Last year's group wasn't great, and there are a lot of faces from that year returning. Marquis Grissom, the likely Friday night starter, needs to have better numbers to give the Yellow Jackets a chance.
Florida State Seminoles
Unlike Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, the Seminoles strength is the pitching. Top two starters Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart are back, and they figure to be early round draft picks this spring in the MLB draft. Florida State is the only team in the ACC with two pitchers of this caliber. The big challenge is replacing catcher Matheu Nelson's production in the lineup, and it's not going to be easy when they have freshman and transfers as the guys likely to fill that gap.
Miami Hurricanes
There has been a lot of turnover for Miami. Over 15 players from last year's team are gone, so there are plenty of new faces for the Hurricanes as they enter the year. They did get yet another good recruiting class, along with returning bopper Yohandy Morales, but the results depend on if the new team can mesh together.
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia is an ACC powerhouse, being one of the few teams that can say they've taken down Vanderbilt in the College World Series. They probably won't be as highly ranked as some other teams, and they have gotten worse since their title, but this is still a good team, with Brian O’Connor taking this team to the college world series 5 times since 2004, most recently last season
Louisville Cardinals
When Dan McDonnell became the Louisville skipper, he turned around the entire program. His first season in 2007, they won the College World Series. Since that year, they've made the series 5 times. They are talented like Miami, but losing slugger Alex Binelas and having a very young team will make things difficult for the Cardinals this season.
The rest of the division
- Boston College Eagles
- Clemson Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- Syracuse Orange
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
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