Collegiate Baseball Newspaper released their 2023 Pre-Season Baseball Poll in December and now it’s time to look at their preview. The ACC grabbed ten spots among the Top 50 teams with Notre Dame getting a nod in the Receiving Votes category of the poll. It’s looking like yet another strong season for conference teams with three making space among the top 10 in the nation.
Spectacular 10 ACC Teams Among Determined Top 50
With the release of their College Preview edition (Friday, January 6) we reached out to the editor, Lou Pavlovich for a sneak peek. There’s a lot to digest, especially if you’re a college baseball fan. If you’ve clicked on the link above you’ve already checked out the rankings. We’re only focusing on the tip of the ACC iceberg for this article.
From the projected Players and Pitchers of the Year, in-depth reports of teams in the top 40, players who made the pre-season All-American First Team to the Top 96 MLB draft eligible players, Collegiate Baseball has cranked out an amazing amount of information for hungry fans in their preview edition.
Preview
Who are the top teams in the ACC? Collegiate Baseball is projecting Louisville and Miami as the teams to beat. The Cardinals are tops in the Atlantic Division while the Canes are expected to take the Coastal. There’s a thin line between the two when it comes to the Top 50 rankings. Dan McDonnell’s Cards are ranked 6th while Gino DiMare’s Hurricanes are 8th in the poll.
There’s been years where Wake Forest has been expected to deliver only to falter. That may not be the case this season as Tom Walter’s Deacs have a solid stable of pitchers that place the team at number 10 in the poll.
Though North Carolina’s Scott Forbes just has two seasons under his belt as head coach for the Heels they’ve been more than productive. The Tar Heels come in at 11. Virginia’s Brian O’Connor (special interview) wants to take the Cavaliers back to the national championship and it’s apparent fans do as well. The team is ranked 16th.
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Last but not least among the top 25 teams is Georgia Tech led by Danny Hall who has 29 years leading the Yellow Jackets. The Ramblin Wreck slides in at 23 in the rankings.
ACC Top 5 Preview
As mentioned above this is just a look at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to conference teams. For more detail be sure to go to Collegiate Baseball for a complete preview of teams.
Louisville – Four position player starters are back in addition to four key pitchers. The Cardinals landed the sixth best recruiting class with 19 newcomers coming into the program. In addition to some solid juniors there are junior college transfers as well.
Miami – Six position player starters are back along with two key pitchers. The Canes have the 15th best recruiting class.
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Wake Forest – The Deacs have seven position player starters back along with five superb pitchers. The recruiting class pulls in 19 newcomers.
North Carolina – Six position player starters return in addition to three key pitchers. The Heels have one of the top outfielders and offense weapons in the country returning in Vance Honeycutt.
Virginia – Seven position player starters return plus two key pitchers. The Wahoos have the 13th best recruiting class with 20 newcomers in the mix.
Projected Pitcher And Players Of The Year – ACC
There’s a long list of players to watch but only one projected Pitcher of the Year and that honor goes to Wake Forest’s Rhett Lowder.
When it comes to Players of the Year why settle for just one? Three third basemen and two outfielders make this list and you can see with one glance why picking just one might be a fools errand.
- Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina
- Yohandy Morales, Miami
- Brock Wilken, Wake Forest
- Jake Gelof, Virginia
- Jake Hurley, Virginia Tech
By taking a look at Collegiate Baseball’s MLB Draft preview you get a good idea that the conference is in for a solid year. Does that mean a trip to Omaha for one or more? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Collegiate Baseball’s Pre-Season All-Americans
The first team is stacked in a way to make any MLB manager drool. Four players from the ACC highlight this list
- RHP Rhett Lowder, Wake Forest
- Relief Andrew Walters, Miami
- 3B Jake Gelof, Virginia
- OF Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina
There’s an additional 4 players on the second team and 1 on the third team out of the conference in their preview.
Speaking of generating interest, Collegiate Baseball took a look at players that have a good shot at being drafted in the first two rounds for Major League Baseball. The list includes 26 individuals from 13 of the 14 teams in ACC baseball.
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