UNC ranked high in ‘way too early’ Baseball America Top 25

By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina is No. 12 on the “way-too-early” Top 25 list that Baseball America released on Wednesday.

The Tar Heels, who went 48–16 last season and made the College World Series, are one of eight ACC teams on the list. They are one of five league teams in its top 12, along with No. 3 Florida State (49–17 last season), No. 4 Clemson (44–16), No. 6 Virginia (46–17) and No. 9 Duke (40–20).

Other ACC teams in BA’s Top 25 are No. 13 N.C. State (38–13), new league member Stanford (22–33) and Wake Forest (38–22).

LSU (43–23), which UNC eliminated in the Chapel Hill Regional, is No. 1, with Florida (36–30) No. 2, NCAA runner-up Texas A&M (53–15) No. 5 and reigning NCAA champion Tennessee (60–13) No. 7.

In Baseball America’s note on UNC’s ranking, Teddy Cahill writes:

“UNC this spring won the ACC [regular-season title] and advanced to the College World Series. It has a solid core returning, built around Freshman All-Americans Jason DeCaro and Luke Stevenson. Third baseman Gavin Gallaher is also back and getting starter Folger Boaz back to full health would be big.

“But UNC also has a lot to replace. Vance Honeycutt was arguably the best player in program history and must be replaced. UNC also lost All-American closer Dalton Pence, starter Shea Sprague and outfielder Casey Cook, its leading hitter.”

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