The college baseball season is right around the corner. Ahead of the proceedings, the Big Ten preseason poll released. Topping the charts are none other than the Oregon Ducks.
Hoping to make like the football team, the Ducks are projected to win the Big Ten regular season baseball championship in their first year in the conference. The coaches picked Oregon ahead of Nebraska, Indiana, UCLA, Michigan, and USC, in that order.
It’s quite clear where the pecking order resides in the Big Ten.
The Ducks lead the Big Ten poll and have two players the conference recognized. Sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony and junior outfielder Mason Neville received recognition ahead of the beginning of the season.
Oregon has made only one College World Series appearance in their program’s long history. The Ducks last made it to Omaha in 1954, so now over 70 years have passed since they’ve broken through.
Oregon’s baseball program has been successful though in the last few seasons. They’ve earned multiple trips to the NCAA Baseball Tournament and have won several conference championships.
Like so many other things now, Oregon will have some adjusting to make in their new abode. The Ducks will have a target after earning the top spot in the preseason poll. Some of their foes will be familiar in USC and UCLA, but new challenges against Michigan and Indiana, among others, await them.
It will be one of the most interesting seasons yet for Oregon baseball in 2025. The Ducks begin the season against Toledo on Friday.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022