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It’s become a reasonable expectation for Frog fans to see TCU ranked in preseason baseball polls, as the Frogs have been one of the more dominant programs in recent years. This preseason, though, it seems as if expectations (at the national level) have reached the highest point possible, as TCU baseball finds itself ranked no. 1 in three major college baseball preseason polls.
D1baseball.com released it’s preseason rankings today, with the Frogs topping the list, just ahead of Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, and LSU. The D1 staff noted this about TCU coming into the 2017 season:
The Horned Frogs are coming off three consecutive College World Series appearances, and they bring back eight everyday regulars, two weekend starters and the closer from a club that reached the national semifinals in 2016.
So yes, TCU is stacked again this season. Of course, beyond returning the likes of Luken Baker, Evan Skoug, Mitchell Traver, Durbin Feltman, etc. etc. etc., The Frogs also pulled in the eighth best recruiting class for 2016, according to Perfect Game. The class is headlined by guys like Nick Lodolo, Trey Morris, and Dion Henderson, all of whom were drafted and turned down offers from pro clubs to come play for the Frogs.
Back in December, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper also placed TCU sitting at the top of the heap, ahead of LSU, Florida, South Carolina, and Oregon State. Perfect Game came out with their rankings last week, putting TCU at No. 1 ahead of LSU, Florida State, Florida, and South Carolina.
Two more preseason polls should come out in the next week or so, as Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) release their polls. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not they agree with the other three polls about TCU.
As we all know, preseason rankings are rather irrelevant once the season begins, as teams actually get on the field and start playing. So, TCU will have to respond to this preseason hype the best way they know how: by proving people right.