THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
College  | Rankings | 1/8/2026

2026 Preseason Top 25

With an interesting and action-packed fall behind us, a new college season is just around the corner. The college game continues to prove it is alive and well as the Division 1 team count has now ballooned to 308 teams for the 2026 season. With new legislation allowing teams 5-weeks to prepare for opening day, many student athletes have returned to campus and will begin skill related workouts soon. Opening Day, as usual, will fall on Valentine’s Day weekend and it is just six weeks away. After a fall of evaluation and months of research and discussion, we are ready to release our annual Perfect Game pre-season Top 25 poll.

After winning 53-games, hosting the NCAA Regional and Super Region, and sweeping their way through the College World, the LSU Tigers will debut the 2026 season as our No.1 ranked team. Head coach, Jay Johnson, has now led the Tigers to two national titles in the last three season and it was the program’s 8th overall. They wasted no time reloading for the 2026 season as they landed 13 of Perfect Game’s top 100 high school prospects on campus this fall and crushed the transfer portal as well. All of that will supplement an incredible returning roster of 13 heavy contributors from ’25, headlined by reigning SEC Freshman of the Year and potential first round pick, Derek Curiel. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets make a splash for first year head coach, James Ramsey, as they will open the season at No. 2 in the poll. The Rambling Wreck may very well have the nations deepest and most dangerous offense to go with a much-upgraded pitching staff. Another first-time head coach, Josh Elander, will have the spotlight directly on him as he leads the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers into the new season. The Vols will have a new look with longtime head coach Tony Vitello taking his personality to San Francisco as the new skipper of the Giants, but the cupboard is packed with talent in Knoxville. Coming off another heartbreaking run in Omaha, Dave Van Horn and the Arkansas Razorbacks will start the year at No. 4 in the rankings. They will field one of the most talented and balanced rosters in the nation and look like a national title contender. Rounding out the Top 5 will be the resurgent UCLA Bruins, as John Savage returns the best junior class in the nation and have another run to Omaha in their sights. Junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky enters the ’26 season as the favorite to go 1:1 in this year’s MLB Amateur Draft and will set the pace for the Bruins high-octane offense.



The SEC once again leads the poll with a total of 9 members on the pre-season list, with 3 of the top 5 and 6 of the top 10 coming from the league. The ACC is right behind them with 8 teams while the Big 10, and Sun Belt both have 2 teams represented. After that the Big West and the American Athletic Conference have a team and Oregon State is in with another year as an Independent.

Rank
Team
Conference
Head Coach
25 Finish
25 Record
1
LSU
SEC
Jay Johnson
CWS Champions
(53-15)
2
Georgia Tech
ACC
James Ramsey
Oxford Regional
(41-19)
3
Tennessee
SEC
Josh Elander
Fayetteville Super Regional
(46-19)
4
Arkansas
SEC
Dave Van Horn
College World Series
(50-15)
5
UCLA
Big 10
John Savage
College World Series
(48-18)
6
Mississippi State
SEC
Brian O'Connor
Tallahassee Regional
(36-23)
7
Oregon State
Independent
Mitch Canham
College World Series
(48-16-1)
8
Texas
SEC
Jim Schlossnagle
Austin Regional
(44-14)
9
Florida State
ACC
Link Jarrett
Corvallis Super Regional
(42-16)
10
Auburn
SEC
Butch Thompson
Auburn Super Regional
(41-20)
11
TCU
Big 12
Kirk Saarloos
Corvallis Regional
(39-20)
12
Florida
SEC
Kevin O'Sullivan
Conway Regional
(39-22)
13
Oregon
Big 10
Mark Wasikowski
Eugene Regional
(42-16)
14
Virginia
ACC
Chris Pollard
No Postseason
(32-18)
15
Georgia
SEC
Wes Johnson
Athens Regional
(43-17)
16
Louisville
ACC
Dan McDonnell
College World Series
(42-24)
17
Coastal Carolina
Sun Belt
Kevin Schnall
CWS Runner-Up
(56-13)
18
North Carolina
ACC
Scott Forbes
Chapel Hill Super Regional
(46-15)
19
Vanderbilt
SEC
Tim Corbin
Nashville Regional
(43-18)
20
Clemson
ACC
Erik Bakich
Clemson Regional
(45-18)
21
UC Santa Barbara
Big West
Andrew Checketts
No Postseason
(36-18)
22
NC State
ACC
Elliot Avent
Auburn Regional
(35-21)
23
Southern Miss
Sun Belt
Christian Ostrander
Hattiesburg Regional
(47-16)
24
Miami
ACC
JD Arteaga
Louisville Super Regional
(35-27)
25
East Carolina
American
Cliff Godwin
Conway Regional
(35-27)
 

College | Story | 1/30/2026

Conference Preview: Big West

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order*  School W L W L Cal Poly 43 19 23 7 Cal State Bakersfield 18 38 9 21 Cal State Fullerton 29 27 19 11 CSUN 15 34 10 20 Hawai'i 35 21 16 14 Long Beach State 22 31 15 15 UC Davis 27 28 13 17 UC Irvine 43 17 24 6 UC Riverside 16 36 5 25 UC Santa Barbara 36 18 16 14 UC San Diego 26 25 15 15 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Nate Vargas UC Santa Barbara Honorable Mention All Big West performer, posted a 306 average with 10 HR’s and 50 RBI. ...
High School | General | 1/31/2026

Preseason HS Top 50

Tyler Russo
Article Image
The start of another high school season is right around the corner in a handful of states and with that, as always, comes our Preseason High School Top-50. A whopping twenty states are represented in the initial Top-50, a number that is staggering when you look at the amount of depth some of these rosters have across the nation. Leading the group is St. John Bosco (CA), a team that brought home a CIF Southern D1 title in 2025 and bring back a strong group of seniors to look to repeat. Stoneman Douglas (FL) is a name most people should know by now in the high school ranks and comes in as our preseason #2 team, looking to win their sixth straight state championship in Florida. Orange Lutheran (CA) had a good case for preseason #1 but come it an No. 3, bringing a roster with seven seniors ranked inside the top-200 in the country to the table. Four other Florida schools are represented...
Softball | Softball Tournament | 1/30/2026

Perfect Game Burst the Bubble

Dave Durbala
Article Image
BURLINGTON, IA - Perfect Game Softball Burst The Bubble Tournament, January 24 - 25, 2026. 15 teams in  this four game guarantee, pool into bracket play tournament, with both a 16u and 18u division contested. In the 16u Division, it was the 09 Midwest Sluggers claiming the Championship over finalist Wisconsin Heat. In the 18u Division it was CIK 08’s taking home the gold rings over finalist Alliance Select Black. The tournament was filled with lots of young talent with big bats, and several players already committed to higher education programs. Below are some of the players that earned their way onto the tournament top performers list. 16U Division  Earning the tournament MVP award was Ruby Stagg (2028 Bettendorf, IA) a solid fielding SS for tournament champion 09 Midwest Sluggers. Stagg, hitting from the right side, sets up in a conventional stance, slightly wide and...
Softball | Softball Tournament | 1/30/2026

Perfect Game Winter Blow-Out 18U Division

Erica Beach
Article Image
Perfect Game Winter Blow-Out 18U Division Burlington, Iowa Jan 17-18, 2026   BURLINGTON, IOWA- The 2026 Perfect Game Winter Blowout, held in the Fun City Turf bubble was competitive from start to finish. Seven teams from three states converged to sharpen their skills and compete for the title. In the end, the Iowa Dynamite 18U took home the hardware, defeating the Alliance Select Harper in the finale. There were some very strong performances on both sides of the ball and below we highlight the top performers from the weekend.     Payton Harris (2028, Mediapolis, IA) of the Black Dragons was lights out on the weekend, batting an impressive .733.  She led the entire tournament in hits, 11 in total showing she was one of the most formidable hitters in her class. She showed her power and ability to drive the ball to all fields, belting four home runs and two doubles on...
High School | General | 1/30/2026

High School Top 50: 10-1

Cam McElwaney
Article Image
High School Preview Index Top 50 Breakdown: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 10. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 2025 Record: 24-1 Head Coach: Dave Turgeon Notable Prospect(s): C Dillon Moss (Stanford), RHP Michael Ramsey, C Charles Messina (Northwestern), 1B Cy Chrisman (Oklahoma State), SS Dylan Messina (Pennsylvania), RHP Michael Todero (St. Joseph’s), SS Max Hemenway (Tennessee), OF Kyler Meccage (Mississippi State), OF Sebastian Wilson (Tennessee), 1B Frank Thomas III (Auburn), SS Juan Diaz (Florida State), C Ethan Armbruster (Mississippi State), SS Antonio Chavez (University of California, Berkeley), RHP Henry Britt, OF Aiden Choo IMG Academy rattled off an incredible season a year ago, finishing with a 24-1 record, and ended the season being named the national champion. It’s another year in Bradenton with some of the most talented players in...
College | Story | 1/30/2026

Conference Preview: SWAC

Michael Albee
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order*  Team W L W L Alabama A&M 2 27 10 40 Alabama State 22 10 31 29 Alcorn State 1 29 6 43 Arkansas Pine-Bluff 17 9 19 34 Bethune Cookman 24 5 37 23 Florida A&M 25 5 34 24 Grambling State 18 11 26 28 Jackson State 16 12 30 21 Mississippi Valley State 7 23 12 29 Prairie View A&M 13 14 17 36 Southern 15 14 26 28 Texas Southern 15 15 22 31 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Vinny Saumell Arkansas Pine-Bluff Reliable backstop and offensive...
Juco | Rankings | 1/29/2026

JUCO: Top 500 Prospects

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
JUCO Preseason Top 50 RK Name Class Pos. School State Commitment 1 Carson Bailey SO LHP McLennan TX 2 Bishop Quarles SO OF Florida Southwestern FL 3 Holden Hering FR RHP Weatherford TX Arkansas 4 Mikhai Grant SO RHP Northwest Florida FL 5 Jimmy Anderson SO SS Heartland IL Kentucky 6 Noah Bentley SO RHP Weatherford TX Oklahoma 7 Hayden Morris SO RHP Blinn TX LSU 8 Collin Smith SO RHP Cochise AZ South Carolina 9 Anthony Quigley SO OF/3B Northwest Florida FL 10 Anson Seibert RS FR RHP Johnson County KS 11 Major Osbolt RS FR RHP Walters State TN LSU 12 Ben Polleschultz SO LHP Blinn TX Texas A&M 13 Peyton Firgens RS FR MIF McLennan TX Mississippi State 14 Garrett Mirel FR LHP Golden West CA North Carolina State 15 Kole Fenton SO SS Walters State TN North Carolina 16 Joseph Sandusky FR SS Weatherford TX Texas A&M 17 Caden Mitchell SO C Weatherford TX Oklahoma 18 Easton Davies SO RHP...
Press Release | Press Release | 1/28/2026

2026 Pacific Baseball Championship Set

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES VENUES, DATES FOR   2026 PACIFIC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP    Elite global talent converges in Southern California, December 26-29, 2026, at the Dodgers’ new ONT Field Stadium and October Empire Complex    Ontario, California (Wednesday, January 28, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced additional details surrounding the 2026 Perfect Game Pacific Baseball Championship (PBC), including official venues, dates and the various nations that players will be coming from,...
Juco | Rankings | 1/28/2026

JUCO Top 50: January 28

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Welcome to the 2026 Junior College baseball season. Once again, this year will begin for us with annual coverage of the PCB JUCO Classic in Panama City Beach, FL this week. With that we bring you our beginning of season JUCO baseball rankings. Perfect Game JUCO rankings combine all levels of JUCO baseball across the country into one overall ranking.  The top of this year’s beginning of season ranking begins where the D1 NJCAA World Series ended, with Walters State and Salt Lake. Walters State returns several contributing pieces from last season's team and will begin the year in the top spot. Defending D1 JUCO National Champion Salt Lake will slot in at number 2. This list shows the strength of junior college baseball around the country with programs from 16 different state represented in our initial top 25. Six teams from Florida make our initial top 25, four of which will...
College | Story | 1/29/2026

Conference Preview: Southland

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order* Team W L W L Southeastern 38 16 22 8 UT- Rio Grande Valley 36 18 22 8 Lamar 40 17 20 10 Northwestern State 35 21 19 11 McNeese 31 17 19 11 Houston Christian 32 23 17 13 TAMU- Corpus Christi 21 31 12 18 New Orleans 28 26 12 18 Nicholls 17 32 10 20 Stephen F. Austin 17 32 9 21 Incarnate Word 17 33 3 27 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Player School Stats/Notes C Julius Ramirez UTRGV Huge numbers at the Juco level as a member of New Mexico JC. Impact stick that will force his way...
Loading more articles...