Vanderbilt, Florida and SEC Dominate MLB Opening Day Rosters
Image credit: Walker Buehler
When it comes to producing big leaguers on Opening Day rosters, MLB has a very distinctive Southeastern feel.
The Southeastern Conference’s Vanderbilt Commodores lead the way with 13 players on active MLB rosters on MLB’s 2022 Opening Day. Fellow SEC member Florida is second with 11 players. Another SEC team (Arkansas) is third. And the SEC’s Mississippi State is tied for fourth with Stanford and Virginia with eight big leaguers.
Of the 13 teams that are in the top 10 (counting ties) seven are from the SEC. Another four are from the Atlantic Coast Conference, which shares a similar geographic footprint. The Pac-12 (Stanford) and Big West Conference (Cal-State Fullerton) have the other two teams in the top 10.
Vanderbilt is represented by righthanders Walker Buehler, Sonny Gray, Kyle Wright, Jordan Sheffield, Drew VerHagen and Collin Snider; lefthander David Price, shortstop Dansby Swanson, second baseman/outfielder Tony Kemp, center fielder Bryan Reynolds and catcher Curt Casali. Vanderbilt’s seven pitchers on active MLB Opening Day rosters would have ranked tied for seventh among all colleges by itself.
Florida is repped by righthanders Darren O’Day, Anthony DeSclafini, Jackson Kowar, Brady Singer and Dane Dunning; lefthanders A.J. Puk and Kirby Snead; second baseman Jonathan India, first baseman Pete Alonso, center fielder Harrison Bader and catcher Mike Zunino.
The 2016 Florida Gators have the record for most active MLB players from one college team. Seven of the 11 current MLB Gators played together on that team: Kowar, Singer, Dunning, Puk, Snead, India and Alonso.
Schools were credited with players who signed directly from there. A player who began at one school before transferring to another is only credited to his final school.
| School | Players |
| Vanderbilt | 13 |
| Florida | 11 |
| Arkansas | 9 |
| Mississippi State | 8 |
| Stanford | 8 |
| Virginia | 8 |
| Louisiana State | 7 |
| Louisville | 7 |
| Texas A&M | 7 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 6 |
| Clemson | 6 |
| North Carolina | 6 |
| South Carolina | 6 |
| Arizona | 5 |
| Arizona State | 5 |
| California | 5 |
| Notre Dame | 5 |
| Auburn | 4 |
| Creighton | 4 |
| Florida State | 4 |
| Georgia | 4 |
| Long Beach State | 4 |
| Missouri State | 4 |
| Nevada-Las Vegas | 4 |
| Oklahoma | 4 |
| Rice | 4 |
| San Diego | 4 |
| Southern California | 4 |
| Texas | 4 |
| Cal Poly | 3 |
| College of Charleston | 3 |
| East Carolina | 3 |
| Florida Gulf Coast | 3 |
| Georgia Tech | 3 |
| Houston | 3 |
| Indiana | 3 |
| Missouri | 3 |
| North Carolina State | 3 |
| Old Dominion | 3 |
| Oregon | 3 |
| Oregon State | 3 |
| Sam Houston State | 3 |
| South Florida | 3 |
| St. Mary’s | 3 |
| UCLA | 3 |
| UNC Wilmington | 3 |
| Akron | 2 |
| Alabama | 2 |
| Azusa Pacific (Calif.) | 2 |
| Barry (Fla.) | 2 |
| Baylor | 2 |
| Cal State San Bernardino | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 2 |
| Connecticut | 2 |
| Dartmouth | 2 |
| Delaware | 2 |
| Florida International | 2 |
| Fresno State | 2 |
| Gonzaga | 2 |
| Harvard | 2 |
| Illinois State | 2 |
| Jacksonville | 2 |
| Kent State | 2 |
| Kentucky | 2 |
| Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 2 |
| Maryland | 2 |
| Miami | 2 |
| Michigan | 2 |
| Millersville (Pa.) | 2 |
| Mount Olive (N.C.) | 2 |
| Northeastern | 2 |
| Oklahoma Baptist | 2 |
| Oral Roberts | 2 |
| Purdue | 2 |
| Sacramento State | 2 |
| San Diego State | 2 |
| Santa Clara | 2 |
| South Dakota State | 2 |
| Stephen F. Austin State | 2 |
| Stetson | 2 |
| Tennessee | 2 |
| Texas State | 2 |
| UC Irvine | 2 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 2 |
| Utah | 2 |
| Virginia Tech | 2 |
| Washington | 2 |
| West Virginia | 2 |
| Wichita State | 2 |
| Wright State | 2 |
| Alabama-Birmingham | 1 |
| Appalachian State | 1 |
| Ashland (Ohio) | 1 |
| Austin Peay State | 1 |
| Bacone (Okla.) | 1 |
| Ball State | 1 |
| Belmont | 1 |
| Belmont Abbey (N.C.) | 1 |
| Berry (Ga.) | 1 |
| Boston College | 1 |
| Bowling Green State | 1 |
| Brigham Young | 1 |
| Buffalo | 1 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 1 |
| Cal State East Bay | 1 |
| Cal State Stanislaus | 1 |
| Campbell | 1 |
| Carson-Newman (Tenn.) | 1 |
| Centenary | 1 |
| Central Florida | 1 |
| Charleston Southern | 1 |
| Coloardo Mesa | 1 |
| Dallas Baptist | 1 |
| Dayton | 1 |
| Drury (Mo.) | 1 |
| Duke | 1 |
| East Stroudsburg (Pa.) | 1 |
| Elon | 1 |
| Evansville | 1 |
| Florida Atlantic | 1 |
| Florida Tech | 1 |
| Fordham | 1 |
| Hartford | 1 |
| Hawaii | 1 |
| Indiana State | 1 |
| Lafayette (Pa.) | 1 |
| Le Moyne (N.Y.) | 1 |
| Louisiana Tech | 1 |
| Loyola Marymount | 1 |
| Maine | 1 |
| Massachusetts-Lowell | 1 |
| McNeese State | 1 |
| Memphis | 1 |
| Menlo (Calif.) | 1 |
| Michigan State | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 |
| New Mexico | 1 |
| Niagara | 1 |
| North Florida | 1 |
| Northeastern State (Okla.) | 1 |
| Northwestern State | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern (Fla.) | 1 |
| Oakland | 1 |
| Oklahoma State | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 |
| Portland | 1 |
| Sacred Heart | 1 |
| San Francisco | 1 |
| Seattle | 1 |
| Slippery Rock (Pa.) | 1 |
| Southern Mississippi | 1 |
| St. John’s | 1 |
| Stony Brook | 1 |
| Tennessee Tech | 1 |
| Tennessee Wesleyan | 1 |
| Texas Christian | 1 |
| Texas Tech | 1 |
| Texas-Arlington | 1 |
| The Citadel | 1 |
| Tulane | 1 |
| Vanguard (Calif.) | 1 |
| Virginia Military Institute | 1 |
| Wake Forest | 1 |
| Washington State | 1 |
| Wayne State (Mich.) | 1 |
| Webster (Mo.) | 1 |
| West Alabama | 1 |
| West Chester (Pa.) | 1 |
| Western Carolina | 1 |
| Western Michigan | 1 |
| Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 1 |
| Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 1 |
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