(© Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images)Dylan SandersWed, January 14, 2026 at 2:15 AM UTC·2 min readThe LSU Tigers baseball team won the College World Series last year and is expected to be elite once again, but it is not starting the year as the top squad.
D1 Baseball has become the go-to rankings for college baseball, and they just released their preseason top 25 with the season just over a month away from beginning.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Tigers begin 2026 as the No. 2 team in the country, behind the UCLA Bruins.
The Bruins finished last year as the No. 5 team, but expectations are high. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky enters the season as one of the top player in the country and will be a heavy favorite to win the 2026 Golden Spikes Award.
It's no surprise that the Bruins enter the year at the top spot. They return a large majority of their talent both in position players and on the pitching staff. That continuity combined with previous success is hard to look past.
LSU is likely not far behind them, though, as they have reloaded and are prepared for another deep postseason run. They just have less returning talent, leaving more room for regression.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Tigers will need to replace major impact players like Jared Jones, Ethan Frey and Daniel Dickinson at the plate along with their top-three innings leaders. Luckily, they have one of the best recruiters of all time in Jay Johnson at the helm.
All eyes will be on star sophomore Derek Curiel to step into his role as the star of this team after a stellar freshman campaign.
Curiel posted a .345/.470/.519 slash line last year with seven home runs and 55 RBI. He was already one of the most productive players on the team. He was the D1 Baseball Freshman of the Year.
In his second year, he has focused on bulking up and will shift over to play center field. He was an older freshman so he could set himself to be drafted after this season with a good year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs for the pitching staff, LSU will look for Casan Evans to become the next ace. He was another star freshman, winning fans over down the stretch last year. His biggest moments was his six inning performance against Little Rock where he struck out 12 and saved the season after the team allowed five runs in the second inning.
Evans pitched 52.2 frames as a freshman with a 2.05 ERA and 12.1 K/9.
There is plenty of elite talent on this Tigers squad, which is why they are expected to be one of the top teams in the country once again this year.
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