College Coaching Confidential: Who Will Win The 2024 National Championship?
Image credit: Michael Massey (Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images)
At the American Baseball Coaches Association convention earlier this month, Baseball America surveyed coaches around the sport on a variety of topics to get the pulse of the profession ahead of the season. The coaches surveyed work at a wide variety of programs, from blue bloods to low majors and everything in between.
We started with an easy question: Who will win the 2024 national championship?
While the question may have been basic, it didn’t produce a clearcut answer. Florida and LSU tied for top spot, as each received 28% of the votes. Arkansas, TCU and Wake Forest all received multiple votes as well.
| Florida | 26.9% |
| LSU | 26.9% |
| Arkansas | 15.38% |
| Wake Forest | 11.5% |
| TCU | 7.7% |
That those five teams would receive the most votes is no surprise. Those were the last four teams left standing a season ago, plus Arkansas, which was the No. 3 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. All five teams return significant talent and further bolstered their rosters with significant additions through the transfer portal.
The fact that only five teams received multiple votes may be down to something as simple as the small sample size of the poll or the fact that those teams left a lasting impression with their play in Omaha. To some, those teams are the best until someone else steps up to beat them.
But it’s not a stretch to say those five teams being the national title favorites is a reflection of the state of college baseball this year. More than any year in at least the last decade, the sport’s elite talent seems to be more concentrated among a few teams.
The Preseason Top 25 (coming next week) looks an awful lot like the Final 2023 Top 25. Some teams have moved around, to be sure, but the bulk of the teams that were really good at the end of last year are expected to be really good again this year. That’s especially true at the top of the sport and, while there are a number of factors for it, the survey results lead me to primarily think about the transfer portal.
All five of the favorites had impressive 2023 seasons and built the bulk of their rosters through the traditional recruiting avenues of high school and junior college, as well as good work in player development. They then also added a major piece of their 2024 roster this summer through the transfer portal. Florida added Colby Shelton (Alabama), who will start on the left side of the infield, likely at shortstop. LSU added starting pitchers Luke Holman (Alabama) and Gage Jump (UCLA), as well as shortstop Michael Braswell (South Carolina). Arkansas added starting pitcher Mason Molina and catcher Hudson White from Texas Tech and shortstop Wehiwa Aloy from Sacramento State. Wake Forest added starting pitcher Chase Burns (Tennessee) and outfielder Seaver King (Wingate), who both project as first-round picks. TCU added All-American two-way player Payton Tolle (Wichita State).
The result is a set of very impressive rosters and a handful of clear favorites in the 2024 national championship race. How well our survey panelists did in selecting the College World Series winner won’t be known for five months, but watching their five favorites all season long should make for a fun spring.
