Virginia Baseball Voted Preseason Favorites to Win the ACC

Virginia Athletic

Virginia baseball was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2025 ACC Baseball Preseason Poll, which was released by the conference on Thursday afternoon (January 30). The league's 16 head coaches voted on the preseason poll and the Cavaliers received 13 first-place votes as the Preseason ACC Champions. Florida State received two first-place votes and Clemson received on first-place vote. This is the first time Virginia has been picked to finish first in the ACC since 2015, the season the Cavaliers ended up winning their first national title.

2025 ACC Baseball Predicted Order of Finish

  1. Virginia (13) – 251
  2. Florida State (2) – 230
  3. North Carolina – 217
  4. Clemson (1) – 214
  5. Duke – 182
  6. Wake Forest – 171
  7. NC State – 168
  8. Stanford – 143
  9. Louisville – 128
  10. Georgia Tech – 113
  11. Miami – 87
  12. Virginia Tech – 85
  13. California – 60
  14. Pitt – 52
  15. Notre Dame – 44
  16. Boston College - 31

Virginia received 251 total points in the preseason poll, 21 more than second-place Florida State. North Carolina came in at No. 3 with 217 points, followed by Clemson (214) and Duke (182) to round out the top five.

In the 2024 college baseball season, Virginia went 18-12 in ACC play and finished second in the Coastal Division of the ACC standings. The Cavaliers reached the College World Series for the second year in a row, third time in the last four years, and seventh time since 2009.

The 2025 season will be the first time that the Atlantic Coast Conference will operate without divisions following the additions of Cal and Stanford to the conference last summer. In ACC play, Virginia will face Boston College (16th in the ACC preseason poll), California (13th), Duke (5th), Stanford (8th), NC State (7th), Pittsburgh (14th), Florida State (2nd), Georgia Tech (10th), Miami (11th), and Virginia Tech (12th).

Virginia is ranked No. 2 in the nation to start the 2025 college baseball season according to D1Baseball.com. Perfect Game has the Cavaliers ranked at No. 3 and Baseball America has the Hoos at No. 5.

UVA lost some serious talent from last year's roster, most notably MLB Draft picks Griff O'Ferrall, Ethan Anderson, Casey Saucke, and Anthony Stephan. But the Cavaliers are bringing back a loaded lineup featuring Henry Ford, Harrison Didawick, Jacob Ference, Henry Godbout, Luke Hanson, Aidan Teel, and Eric Becker as well as a strong pitching staff that includes Evan Blanco, Jay Woolfolk, Bradley Hodges, Jack O'Connor, Kevin Jaxel, Matthew Buchanan, Blake Barker, and Matt Augustin. Virginia also brought in a number of quality transfers and freshmen, including Chris Arroyo, James Nunnallee, Tomas Valincius, and Joe Colucci.

The 2025 UVA baseball season will open on Valentine's Day weekend and outside of the continental United States as the Cavaliers take on Michigan (February 14), Villanova (February 15), and Rice (February 16) in the Puerto Rico Challenge in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

More Virginia Baseball News

UVA Baseball Ranked No. 2 in D1Baseball Preseason Top 25

Virginia Baseball Ranked Top Five in Perfect Game Preseason Top 25

Virginia Baseball 2025 Schedule Announced

Virginia Baseball Named 6th-Best Program in College Baseball by D1Baseball

Virginia Baseball: Recapping the 2024 MLB Draft and What It Means for 2025


Published
Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.