2026 ACC Baseball

[Mandingo Finkelstein]

I like the preseason hype. Bring it on. Means we are highly relevant. Where we finish in the ACC doesn't mean jack as far as the ultimate goals anyway. An acknowledgment that we are one of the top teams in one of the top conferences that raises expectations works for me. I'd much rather have the so-called "worry" of underachieving than expectations of being a middling team and bubble/borderline NCAAT participant. Again, bring it on. Whether we finish 1st or 2nd or 6th or whatever, enjoy the ride. What is ultimately going to matter is what this team does in June, not late January. Until then, enjoy the ride. Life could be a LOT worse than being projected as tops in the ACC.

 

[Richland County]

Quite a bit of Ga Tech content & discussion.


00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message
00:37 Autumn Ball and Whimsy
04:54 Virginia Baseball Insights
13:45 Georgia Tech's Promising Lineup
23:49 Duke's New Beginnings
28:40 Pitching Rotation Insights
30:53 Stanford and Cal Roster Analysis
39:02 Louisville's Promising Lineup
43:40 Omaha Capable Teams Discussion
53:24 Florida State's Potential
57:18 Concluding Thoughts and Autumn Reports

What i learned from that video is James has a loaded roster. Omaha or bust.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Really good interview. Miami's Arteaga has a pitching philosophy that I haven't heard much in college; build the pitching staff from the end forward. Isn't that more a pro concept? Miami almost made the CWS last year. Talks about pitching philosophy starting just before 5 minutes.

2026 Preseasoning: Miami Head Coach JD Arteaga Joins ACC Baseball Etc. • D1Baseball

Daron Vaught is joined by Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga to preview the Hurricanes' 2026 season.

d1baseball.com

 

[gtbeak]

Really good interview. Miami's Arteaga has a pitching philosophy that I haven't heard much in college; build the pitching staff from the end forward. Isn't that more a pro concept? Miami almost made the CWS last year. Talks about pitching philosophy starting just before 5 minutes.

2026 Preseasoning: Miami Head Coach JD Arteaga Joins ACC Baseball Etc. • D1Baseball

Daron Vaught is joined by Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga to preview the Hurricanes' 2026 season.

d1baseball.com

Good find. As Arteaga says, Miami has more often than not had a strong closer. That's not something we've had near as often at Tech, and some of our better closers have been two way players, which makes it hard to get them ready. Terry Busse, for the 1st couple months of the 2023 season, is the most recent reliable closer that we've had, but we went against the Miami philosophy and moved him into a starting role, where he bombed spectacularly.

Some MLB teams are moving towards a philosophy of high leverage to low leverage situations. This is the idea that what inning it is doesn't matter, its more important what the run differential is and where you are in the opponents batting order. The difficulty with that is the implication that bullpen pitchers need to be ready mentally for larger parts of the game, and this can be taxing over a 162 game schedule.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

What i learned from that video is James has a loaded roster. Omaha or bust.

Just give me a regional win. Then we can talk.

There are a lot of ACC teams who could make CWS. We aren't the favorite of D1 staff even though they have us rated the highest overall. There was talk about Clempson scuttling the Omaha or Bust talk of the last few seasons. Talked about post season trauma Clempson has seen the last 4 years. Damn we have 20 years of trauma.

ACC Preview with ACC Extra's Bradley Smart [D1 Daily] • D1Baseball

Roons and Burkie sit down with ACC Extra's Bradley Smart to discuss the ACC landscape heading into the 2026 college baseball season.

d1baseball.com

 

[FredJacket]

Was listening to 'part' of the ACC Baseball Etc podcast. Three guys (Aaron Fitt, Daron Vaught, and Bradley Smart) discussing/predicting this season's ACC baseball stuff.

They all agreed Ga Tech is stacked and assuming pitching takes a step forward, they are one of the best in the conference. Fitt says he's "all in" on Ga Tech and he is predicting an Omaha appearance. No objection from the other 2 guys. When each was asked to predict the ACC regular season champ... it went Louisville (Fitt and Smart) and UNC (Vaught). Fitt and Smart both put Ga Tech up at top talent/roster wise; but they gave Louisville the edge based on their [relatively] soft ACC schedule.. which (like football) is a real thing with a 16-team conference. Vaught's a homer for the the triangle region and UNC, in particular... which is fine.

They also all agreed. There is a lot of parity in the conference with as many as 8-10 teams in the mix to threaten to win the conference.

 

[FredJacket]

A couple of ranked ACC teams lost openers.
Louisville lost to Mich St
Wake lost to Houston

Stanford beat a ranked Arizona team.

ACC was 12-5 on Opening Day. Duke (1-1) played a DH.

 

[Richland County]

A couple of ranked ACC teams lost openers.
Louisville lost to Mich St
Wake lost to Houston

Stanford beat a ranked Arizona team.

ACC was 12-5 on Opening Day. Duke (1-1) played a DH.

Be nice to see Stanford find some old magic for conf strength.

 

[gtbeak]

Be nice to see Stanford find some old magic for conf strength.

Agree 100%. And it wouldn't be really even old magic, more like recent years magic. They went to Omaha 3 straight years from 2021 to 2023. I hope they don't pull a Miami football program act and completely fold as soon as they join the ACC.

 

[gtbeak]

A couple of ranked ACC teams lost openers.
Louisville lost to Mich St
Wake lost to Houston

Stanford beat a ranked Arizona team.

ACC was 12-5 on Opening Day. Duke (1-1) played a DH.

Louisville was beaten again by Michigan St, this time quite soundly. Not a good weekend for them.

 

[gtrower]

Louisville was beaten again by Michigan St, this time quite soundly. Not a good weekend for them.

Lville looked terrible. Pitching a mess. Dumb mistakes from hitters. Granted I only watched 3 or 4 innings across the two games, but that doesn’t look like a tourney team let alone an Omaha team right now.

 

[FredJacket]

Lville looked terrible. Pitching a mess. Dumb mistakes from hitters. Granted I only watched 3 or 4 innings across the two games, but that doesn’t look like a tourney team let alone an Omaha team right now.

Is Louisville on the decline? Are they one of those teams/programs elevated by the assumption they have a good/established coach and they "should" be really good when the results the last few years run a little counter to that?

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Is Louisville on the decline? Are they one of those teams/programs elevated by the assumption they have a good/established coach and they "should" be really good when the results the last few years run a little counter to that?

No not yet. Maybe but we'll only know in the fullness of time. I'll take being in decline if it means going to the CWS the previous year. Or more fully this:

 

[senoiajacket]

Lville looked terrible. Pitching a mess. Dumb mistakes from hitters. Granted I only watched 3 or 4 innings across the two games, but that doesn’t look like a tourney team let alone an Omaha team right now.

Right now being the key operative.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Stuck this here, no change for us despite UCLA going 2-1. The only thing I didn't understand / agree with is uGag dropping a game to Wright State and moving up a spot. Happened since L'Ville dropped 7 (!) spots when they lost a series.

BTW, one thing I'm watching at D1 is how much ACC only coverage they have. They had like 6 stories on SEC only and I think none on ACC only over the weekend. We'll see how long that continues, makes me question my subscription. Anyway, here's the summary:

"The top six teams remain the same in the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, led by No. 1 UCLA, which holds onto the top spot despite dropping its series finale against UC San Diego. The next five teams in the rankings — LSU, Texas, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and Coastal Carolina — all went 3-0 at home against overmatched competition.

The first change in the rankings comes at No. 7. TCU jumped three spots from No. 10 after a 2-1 weekend against three stout SEC opponents at Globe Life Field, including wins against preseason No. 23 Vanderbilt and preseason No. 7 Arkansas. The Hogs fall one spot to No. 8 as a result of the head-to-head loss to the Horned Frogs. Auburn stays put at No. 9, and North Carolina climbs one spot to round out the top 10.

Louisville tumbles seven spots from No. 8 to No. 15 after a 1-2 weekend at home against Michigan State, allowing Oregon State, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia to each move up one spot apiece, occupying spots 11 through 14, respectively.

The next change in the rankings comes at No. 21, where Oklahoma jumps into the rankings after an eye-opening 3-0 weekend at Globe Life that included three blowout wins against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU. The Sooners outscored those three foes by a combined score of 32-6. OU’s jump forced No. 22 Wake Forest and No. 23 Miami each down one spot despite winning weekends for both of those ACC clubs.

Texas A&M moves up one spot to No. 24 after blitzing Tennessee Tech in a three-game sweep. And West Virginia enters the rankings at No. 25 following a road series sweep of Georgia Southern.

Vanderbilt (which went 1-2 at Globe Life) and Arizona (which went 0-3) fall out of the rankings.

The Top 25 rankings are determined by D1Baseball editors and national writers."

D1Baseball Top 25: No change at top; OU, WVU enter rankings • D1Baseball

There's no change at the top of the D1Baseball Top 25, while Oklahoma and West Virginia enter the rankings.

d1baseball.com

 

[Mandingo Finkelstein]

Stuck this here, no change for us despite UCLA going 2-1. The only thing I didn't understand / agree with is uGag dropping a game to Wright State and moving up a spot. Happened since L'Ville dropped 7 (!) spots when they lost a series.

Speaking of those Goobers to the east, I just now took a moment to look at their schedule for the first time. They have made a concerted effort to play just about the easiest non-conference schedule ever. They used to play Clemson home-and-away. They won't face them this season. They play us on a neutral field once. And, that literally is about it. The only other non-conference game they play away from home is a game at Kennesaw State.

Don't get me wrong here, I know the SEC like normal is absolutely loaded. So, I'm not saying they have an "easy" schedule overall. They don't. But I do find it interesting they really aren't challenging themselves at all outside the conference except against us. At least on paper that is. Georgia Southern is not on their schedule. Neither is Mercer. Of course, they've rarely, if ever, gone to Statesboro or Mercer to play a game. And yes, I know for the first time in a very long time that I can remember, we are not scheduled to play a game in Macon this year (to my surprise).

Take a look... https://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2026/schedule/Georgia

 

[DecaturJacket]

Speaking of those Goobers to the east, I just now took a moment to look at their schedule for the first time. They have made a concerted effort to play just about the easiest non-conference schedule ever. They used to play Clemson home-and-away. They won't face them this season. They play us on a neutral field once. And, that literally is about it. The only other non-conference game they play away from home is a game at Kennesaw State.

Don't get me wrong here, I know the SEC like normal is absolutely loaded. So, I'm not saying they have an "easy" schedule overall. They don't. But I do find it interesting they really aren't challenging themselves at all outside the conference except against us. At least on paper that is. Georgia Southern is not on their schedule. Neither is Mercer. Of course, they've rarely, if ever, gone to Statesboro or Mercer to play a game. And yes, I know for the first time in a very long time that I can remember, we are not scheduled to play a game in Macon this year (to my surprise).

Take a look... https://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2026/schedule/Georgia

To be fair, Wright State was a 40 win team last season, won the Horizon, and took a game from Vandy in that Nashville Regional. Troy won 39 and lost by 1 run in the semifinal of the Sun Belt Tourny (Coastal beat So. Miss in the final, two regional hosts) and ETSU also won 40 games and the SOCON Tourny last season, as did we obviously. It's not a sexy schedule, but it's not as bad as it may look. Wright was definitely their only non-conference weekend series that's decent though.

• Wright State 40-21
• USC Upstate (Midweek) 36-25
• Samford 30-27
• Troy (Midweek x2) 39-21
• Oakland (4 games) 19-41
• KSU (Midweek x2) 31-27
• Western Carolina (Midweek) 30-28
• Queens (NC) 9-44-1
• The Citadel (Midweek) 31-26
• Georgia State (Midweek) 26-30
• Presbyterian (Midweek) 17-35
• ETSU (Midweek) 41-17
• Us (Midweek) 41-19

 

[FredJacket]

Ok... who wants to run the algorithm?

We want to maximize our RPI. Two parts of the formula are opponent's winning % and opponent's of opponent's winning %

With Miam and Florida playing tonight... I need to know who to pull for. I do not care about the ACC ... I care about Ga Tech. Neither Miami or Florida are on our schedule. However, both are opponents of our opponents. Who do I want to win? For now I assume it doesn't matter... we want Miami and UF to have high winning % ... neither would weigh more than the other. ??

 

[jatchet]

Ok... who wants to run the algorithm?

We want to maximize our RPI. Two parts of the formula are opponent's winning % and opponent's of opponent's winning %

With Miam and Florida playing tonight... I need to know who to pull for. I do not care about the ACC ... I care about Ga Tech. Neither Miami or Florida are on our schedule. However, both are opponents of our opponents. Who do I want to win? For now I assume it doesn't matter... we want Miami and UF to have high winning % ... neither would weigh more than the other. ??

I hear you on not caring about ACC vs SEC, but if you're chasing RPI, you would generally pull for your own conference, especially against a strong opponent.

Miami and Tech (by quick glance) share 8 common series opponents... impacting 24 games out of about 60 is going to be tough for an out of conference team to match. Not to mention that common opponents like Kennesaw State (midweek for us) likely won't have as much impact on RPI as even a lower ACC team.

So fine, dont pull for ACC. Pull for teams who play lots of ACC teams. TIC

 

[GT33]

I’m so used to our pitchers that when I saw Miami’s starter at 85 pitches, I just figured it was the 4th inning. Nope, he closed out the 7th.