Month: February 2025

College Baseball Conference Predictions 2025

Tom Knuppel college baseball 2025

 

Conference Predictions for Every Conference

                  in College Baseball 2025

 

Conference                       Winner                   Runner-up

ACC                                    Virginia                         North Carolina

America East                   Albany                           NJIT

American Athletic          East Carolina              Wichita State

ASUN                                Austin Peay               Central Arkansas

Atlantic 10                       VCU                             Saint Louis

Big 12                               Oklahoma State        Arizona

Big East                          Georgetowne             UConn

Big South                      SC Upstate                 High Point

Big Ten                           Indiana                      Nebraska

Big West                         UC Irvine                   UCSB

Coastal Atlantic            Northeastern            UNCW

Conference USA           Dallas Baptist           FIU

Horizon League            Northern Kentucky     Wright State

Independent                  Oregon State

Ivy League                     Columbia                     Penn

MAAC                            Fairfield                       Niagara

Mid-American              Ball State                     Bowling Green

Missouri Valley           Missouri State             Illinois State

Mountain West            Washington State      Air Force

Northeast                      Long Island                Farleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley                   SEMO                          Morehead State

Patriot League             Army                            Bucknell

SEC                                LSU                              Tennessee

Southern                      Wofford                       UNCG

Southland                   Houston Christian     Incarnate Word

Sun Belt                       Troy                             Coastal Carolina

SWAC                           Alabama State           Alabama A&M

The Summit League   Oral Roberts             Saint Thomas

West Coast                     San Diego                Santa Clara

Western Athletic         Cal Baptist                 Grand Canyon

 

Follow along all season and check out my conference predictions each and every week.

College Baseball Conferences- Top 25- Picks and Predictions

Tom Knuppel Other

Baseball Conferences

There are nearly 30 Division 1 baseball conference in 2025, with almost 300 teams involved to attempt to make it to the College World Series in Omaha at the completion of the regular season. In 2024, the Tennessee Volunteers, coached by Tony Vitello were the champions of the College World Series. Texas A&M finished second. At the 2025 preseason, most experts are picking one of three teams to win it all and they are LSU, Texas A&M or Georgia.

 

American East Conference

Bryant opens Feb 14 at Davidson College

Binghamton Feb 14 at Texas State University

Maine opens Feb 14 vs Louisiana Tech

NJIT  opens Feb 14 at High Point

UAlbany opens Feb 21 at Lamar

UMBC  opens Feb 21 at Stetson

UMass Lowell  opens Feb 14 vs Mercyhurst

 

American Athletic Conference

East Carolina
UTSA
Tulane
Wichita State
UAB
Florida Atlantic 12-15 28-29
Charlotte 12-15 24-34
Rice 11-16 23-36
South Florida 11-16 26-29
Memphis

 

Atlantic 10 Conference

St Louis

VCU

Dayton

Richmond

Geo Washington

UMASS

St Joseph’s

Rhode Island

Davidson

Fordham

St Bonaventure

George Mason

 

Atlantic Coast Conference

Clemson

NC State

Florida State

Louisville

Wake Forest

Notre Dame

Boston College

North Carolina

Virginia

Duke

Georgia Tech

Virginia Tech

Miami

Pitt

 

Atlantic Sun Conference

Austin Peay

Bellarmine

Central Arkansas

EKU

Lipscomb

North Alabama

FGCU

Jacksonville

North Florida

Queens

Stetson

West Georgia

Big 12

Arizona

Arizona State

Baylor

BYU

Cincinnati

Colorado

Kansas

Kansas State

Houston

Oklahoma State

TCU

Texas Tech

West Virginia

UCF

 

Big East

UConn

St Johns

Georgetowne

Xavier

Villanova

Creighton

Seton Hall

Butler

 

Big South Conference

Charleston Southern

Gardner-Web

High Point

Longwood

Presbyterian

Radford

 

Big Ten

Illinois

Iowa

Indiana

Maryland

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Nebraska

Northwestern

Ohio State

Oregon

Penn state

Purdue

Rutgers

UCLA

USC

Washington

 

Big West

Cal Poly

Cal State Bakersfield

Cal State Fullerton

Hawaii

Long Beach State

UC Davis

UC Irvine

UC Riverside

UC San Diego

UC Santa Barbara

 

Coastal Athletic Association

Charleston

UNCW

Northeastern

Delaware

William and Mary

Hofstra

Campbell

Stony Brook

Monmouth

Elon

NC A&T

Towson

 

Conference USA

Dallas Baptist

FIU

Jacksonville State

Kennesaw State

Liberty

LaTech

MTSU

NM State

Sam Houston

WKU

 

Horizon League

Milwaukee

Northern Kentucky

Oakland

Purdue Fort Wayne

Wright State

Youngstown State

 

Ivy League

Columbia

Princeton

Cornell

Penn

Yale

Harvard

Dartmouth

Brown

 

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Canisus

Fairfield

Iona

Manhattan

Marist

Merrimcak

Mount Mt. Mary’s

Niagara

Quinnipac

Rider

Sacred Heart

St. Peter’s

Siena

 

Mid-American Conference

Akron

Ball State

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Central Michigan

Eastern Michigan

Ken State

Miami (Ohio)

Northern Illinois

Ohio

Toledo

Western Michigan

 

Missouri Valley

Indiana State

Murray State

Evansville

Illinois State

UIC

Southern Illinois

Belmont

Missouri State

Valparaiso

Bradley

 

Mountain West Conference

Air Force

New Mexico

Fresno State

Nevada

San Jose State

UNLV

San Diego State

 

Northeast Conference

Sacred Heart

LIU

Merrimack

Wagner

Delaware State

FDU

Central Connecticut

LaMoyne

Stone Hill

Coppin State

Norfolk State

Maryland Eastern Shore

 

Ohio Valley Conference

Little Rock

Southeast Missouri

Morehead State

Southern Indiana

Tennessee Tech

Eastern Illinois

SIUEUT Martin

Lindenwood

Western Illinois

 

Patriot League (check this)

American

Boston University

Loyola Maryland

Navy

Richmond

Bucknell

Lafayette

Lehigh

Georgetowne

Holy Cross

North Alabama

Army

Colgate

 

SEC

Auburn

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

LSU

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

Missouri

Oklahoma

South Carolina

Tennessee

 

Southern Conference

UNC Greensboro

Samford

ETSU

Western Carolina

Wofford

VMI

Mercer

The Citadel

 

Southwestern Athletic Conference

AAMU

ASU

Alcorn State

BCU

FAMU

Grambling

Jackson

MVSU

PVAM

Southern

TVU

UAPB

 

Summit League

  • University of Denver
  • University of Missouri-Kansas City
  • University of North Dakota
  • North Dakota State University
  • University of Nebraska Omaha
  • Oral Roberts University
  • University of St. Thomas
  • University of South Dakota
  • South Dakota State University

 

Sun Belt Conference

Louisiana

So Miss

Troy

James Madison

Georgia Southern

App State

Coastal Carolina

Old Dominion

South Alabama

Texas State

Georgia State

ULM

Marshall

Arkansas State

 

West Coast Conference

Gonzaga

LMU

Pacific

Pepperdine

Portland

St. Mary’s

San Diego

San Francisco

Santa Clara

 

Western Athletic Conference

Utah Valley

Abilene Christian

California Baptist

Grand Canyon

Sacramento State

Seattle U

Tarleton State

UT Arlington

Utah Tech

 

 

Tom’s Top 25 in 2025

  1. LSU – on the backs of William Schmidt, Derek Curreil, Anthony Eyanson  tis team is loaded
  2. Texas A&M – runner-up from 2024 return a plethora of  talent in Gavin Grahovic and Jace LaViolette
  3. Virginia – great bats in line-up
  4. Arkansas- loads of pitching
  5. Tennessee – national champs in 2024 look to repeat with additions such as Cardon Appenzeller and Gary Morse and solid pitching.
  6. Georgia- big bats for Dawgs with Tre Phelps and portal players like Christian Adams and Ryan Black
  7. UNC – bullpen has been shored up with Dalton Pence and power hitter Luke Stephenson on offense.
  8. Oregon State – powerful bats returning Elijah Hainline  along with U  of Washington transfer ss Avia Arquette and 3B Trent Caraway with pitchers LHP Nelson Keljia and likely the Friday guy.
  9. Florida State – Jamie Arnold is the top pitcher on the roster,Evan Chrest will likely get a weekend rotation spot and Max Williams will leads the offense.
  10. Florida – Key returners: Luke Heyman C/1B (,246, 16 HRs, 52 RBIs), Brody Donay C/DH (.246, 14 HRs. 32 RBIs), Cade Kurland 2B (.245, 14 HRs, 44 RBi’s
  11. Oregon
  12. NC State
  13. Duke
  14. Clemson-best 1/2 pitching in the country
  15. Vanderbilt
  16. Wake Forest- This team might go far with returning talent
  17. Mississippi State
  18. Oklahoma State
  19. Texas
  20. Arizona
  21. TCU
  22. Nebraska
  23. Dallas Baptist
  24. UCSB
  25. Indiana

first out: Troy.Kentucky, Oklahoma,Stanford,Kentucky

Daytona 500 – Odds, Picks and Predictions

Tom Knuppel NASCAR 25 , , ,

The 2025 season is creeping closer. With that I will bring to our my picks each week and we can make some money. Just remember that is an auto race many things can happen to knock out your pick. Let’s begin with the Daytona 500 for 2025.

 

Odds come from DraftKings Sportsbook

 

 

Daytona 500 Odds

 

Kyle Busch: +1100
Brad Keselowski: +1200
Ryan Blaney: +1300
Joey Logano: +1400
Denny Hamlin: +1400
Chase Elliott: +1400
William Byron: +1400
Tyler Reddick: +1600
Ross Chastain: +1600
Kyle Larson: +1600
Chris Buescher: +1800
Christopher Bell: +2000
Bubba Wallace: +2000

Daniel Suarez: +2500
Austin Dillon: +2500
Ty Gibbs: +2800
Alex Bowman: +2800
Todd Gilliland: +3000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +3000
Michael McDowell: +3000

Chase Briscoe: +3500
Noah Gragson: +4000
Ty Dillon: +4500
Ryan Preece: +4500

Erik Jones: +4500
Justin Haley: +5000 Josh Berry: +5000
AJ Allmendinger +5000

John Hunter Nemechek: +5500
Cole Custer: +5500
Carson Hocevar: +6500
Helio Castroneves: +6500
Shane Van Gisbergen: +6500

 

Daytona 500 Predictions

I am writing this very early so pay attention before you bet for changing odds or something happening that a driver must remove themselves from the race.

Last season, the 2024 Daytona 500 was won by William Byron . He was +1800 at the start of the race. This year I am not taking the favorite and my bet will be on Ryan Blaney +1300.

 

Good luck and keep following along:

For more sports go to: Tomknuppel.com

 

Daytona 500 Schedule 2025

1 Daytona 500 February 16 2:30 PM Fox
2 Ambetter Health 400 O Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia February 23 3 PM PRN
3 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix R Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas March 2 3:30 PM
4 Shriners Children’s 500 O Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona March 9 FS1 MRN
5 Pennzoil 400 O Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada March 16 PRN
6 Straight Talk Wireless 400 O Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida March 23 3 PM MRN
7 Cook Out 400 O Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia March 30
8 Goodyear 400 O Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina April 6
9 Food City 500 O Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee April 13 PRN
10 Jack Link’s 500[136] O Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama April 27 Fox MRN
11 Würth 400[137] O Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas May 4 3:30 PM FS1 PRN
12 AdventHealth 400 O Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas May 11 3 PM MRN
NASCAR All Star Open O North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro, North Carolina May 18 6 PM
NASCAR All-Star Race 8 PM
13 Coca-Cola 600 O Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina May 25 6 PM Prime PRN
14 Ally 400 O Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee June 1 7 PM
15 FireKeepers Casino 400 O Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan June 8 2 PM MRN
16 NASCAR Cup Series at Mexico City R Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico June 15 3 PM
17 The Great American Getaway 400 O Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania June 22 2 PM
NASCAR in-season tournament[2]
18 Quaker State 400 available at Walmart O Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia June 28 7 PM TNT PRN
19 Grant Park 165 S Chicago Street Course Chicago, Illinois July 6 2 PM MRN
20 Toyota/Save Mart 350 R Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California July 13 3:30 PM PRN
21 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400[138] O Dover Motor Speedway Dover, Delaware July 20 2 PM
22 Brickyard 400 presented by PPG O Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana July 27 IMS
Regular Season
23 Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol O Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa August 3 3:30 PM USA MRN
24 Go Bowling at The Glen R Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York August 10 2 PM
25 Cook Out 400 O Richmond Raceway Richmond, Virginia August 16 7:30 PM
26 Coke Zero Sugar 400 O Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida August 23 NBC
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
Round of 16
27 Cook Out Southern 500 O Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina August 31 6 PM USA MRN
28 Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter O World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois September 7 3 PM
29 Bass Pro Shops Night Race O Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee September 13 7:30 PM PRN
Round of 12
30 USA Today 301 O New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire September 21 2 PM USA PRN
31 Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET O Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas September 28 3 PM MRN
32 Bank of America Roval 400 R Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) Concord, North Carolina October 5 PRN
Round of 8
33 South Point 400 O Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada October 12 5:30 PM USA PRN
34 YellaWood 500 O Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama October 19 2 PM

35 Xfinity 500 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium O Bowman Gray Stadium Winston-Salem, North Carolina February 2 8 PM Fox MRN
The Duel at Daytona O Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida February 13 7 PM FS1
1 Daytona 500 February 16 2:30 PM Fox
2 Ambetter Health 400 O Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia February 23 3 PM PRN
3 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix R Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas March 2 3:30 PM
4 Shriners Children’s 500 O Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona March 9 FS1 MRN
5 Pennzoil 400 O Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada March 16 PRN
6 Straight Talk Wireless 400 O Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida March 23 3 PM MRN
7 Cook Out 400 O Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia March 30
8 Goodyear 400 O Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina April 6
9 Food City 500 O Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee April 13 PRN
10 Jack Link’s 500[136] O Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama April 27 Fox MRN
11 Würth 400[137] O Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas May 4 3:30 PM FS1 PRN
12 AdventHealth 400 O Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas May 11 3 PM MRN
NASCAR All Star Open O North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro, North Carolina May 18 6 PM
NASCAR All-Star Race 8 PM
13 Coca-Cola 600 O Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina May 25 6 PM Prime PRN
14 Ally 400 O Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee June 1 7 PM
15 FireKeepers Casino 400 O Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan June 8 2 PM MRN
16 NASCAR Cup Series at Mexico City R Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico June 15 3 PM
17 The Great American Getaway 400 O Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania June 22 2 PM
NASCAR in-season tournament[2]
18 Quaker State 400 available at Walmart O Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia June 28 7 PM TNT PRN
19 Grant Park 165 S Chicago Street Course Chicago, Illinois July 6 2 PM MRN
20 Toyota/Save Mart 350 R Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California July 13 3:30 PM PRN
21 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400[138] O Dover Motor Speedway Dover, Delaware July 20 2 PM
22 Brickyard 400 presented by PPG O Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana July 27 IMS
Regular Season
23 Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol O Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa August 3 3:30 PM USA MRN
24 Go Bowling at The Glen R Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York August 10 2 PM
25 Cook Out 400 O Richmond Raceway Richmond, Virginia August 16 7:30 PM
26 Coke Zero Sugar 400 O Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida August 23 NBC
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
Round of 16
27 Cook Out Southern 500 O Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina August 31 6 PM USA MRN
28 Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter O World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois September 7 3 PM
29 Bass Pro Shops Night Race O Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee September 13 7:30 PM PRN
Round of 12
30 USA Today 301 O New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire September 21 2 PM USA PRN
31 Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET O Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas September 28 3 PM MRN
32 Bank of America Roval 400 R Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval) Concord, North Carolina October 5 PRN
Round of 8
33 South Point 400 O Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada October 12 5:30 PM USA PRN
34 YellaWood 500 O Talladega Superspeedway Lincoln, Alabama October 19 2 PM

Top Freshman Pitchers in 2025 – College Baseball

Tom Knuppel Other

There will be many good freshman pitchers in he Collegiate ranks in 2025. I have selected some (usually the ones that get the most press) that  are on my “must” watch list. Again, you can add many, many mores names but here is ours.

 

Freshman Pitchers

 

(no order)

 

  1. Owen Paino (Ole Miss)

2. William Schmidt (LSU)

3. Christian Chatterton (Auburn)

4. Mason Brass field (TCU)

5. Duncan Marsten (Wake Forest)

6. Brayton Thomas (Indiana)

7. Hudson Barton (Vanderbilt

 

Check out more college baseball 2025 HERE

Top College Position Players 2025

Tom Knuppel college baseball 2025 , , ,

The 2025 college baseball season begins in less than two weeks on February 15th. I thought this would be a good time to let you in on who Tom believes are he top position players in college baseball 2025.This usually is a point of discussion and likely an argument over spots where players belong. Remember, they lay both sides of the game, both offence and defense.

Top Position Players

 

Catchers

  1. Jacob Ference (Virginia)
  2. Caden Bodine _Coastal Carolina)
  3. Ike Irish (Auburn)
  4. Luke Stevenson (UNC)
  5. Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma)

First Base

  1. Jared Jones (Texas)
  2. Tanner Thach (UNCW)
  3. Andy Martinez (San Diego State)
  4. Luke Owens ( PITT)
  5. Jacob Tobias (Arizona State)

Second Base

  1. Henry Godbout (Virginia)
  2. Daniel Dickinson (LSU)
  3. Wyatt Henseler (Texas A&M)
  4. Damian Bravo (Texas Tech)
  5. Gavin Kilen ( Tennessee)

Third Base

  1. Gavin Grahovic (Texas A&M)
  2. Daniel Cuvet (Miami)
  3. Bert Miller (Duke)
  4. Trent Caraway (Oklahoma State)
  5. Eddie Hacopian (Maryland)

 

Shortstop

  1. Dean Curley (Tennessee)
  2. Marek Houston ( Wake Forest)
  3. Jalin Flores (Texas)
  4. Aiva Arquette ( Oregon State)
  5. Justin Lebron (Alabama)

 

Outfielders

  1. Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M)
  2. Cam Cannarella (Clemson)
  3. Ethan Petry ( South Carolina)
  4. Drew Burress (Georgia Tech
  5. Tre Phelps (Georgia)

 

Pitchers

  1. Jamie Arnold (Florida State)
  2. Tyler Brenner ( UCSB)
  3. Ryan Prager (Texas A&M)
  4. Grayson Grinsek ( Clemson)
  5. Aidan Knaak (Clemson)

 

 

 

That’s  it for the Preseason. Many things can happen as the season gets underway. Players will emerge and some will fade slightly of drop out. Who you think are top position players? Keep following right here all season!