This is surprising to me.

The Texas A&M baseball team has been picked to place 13th in the 16-member Southeastern Conference in 2026, per the predictive preseason poll Thursday comprising votes from each head coach in the league.

I would have thought around 9 or 10, but I get it...last year put us in a position where we have to prove we can win with Earley before anyone is going to predict it.

Thats just about where the basketball team was predicted to land.
They are tied for first at the halfway mark!

Quite honestly, we don't deserve the benefit of the doubt after what happened last year. Hopefully things are better this season.

Meh. I'd say that's about right. If we stay healthy (and that's a BIG if), I think we can be a top 6-7 team in the SEC. And that would mean we'd probably host a regional.

Top 3 areas of "concern" for me:

1. Injuries
2. Coaching (specifically head coaching)
3. Pitching

With three All Americans, I was optimistically thinking 6th or 7th.
I guess they are questioning our pitching.

SECTAMU#1 said:

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With three All Americans, I was optimistically thinking 6th or 7th.
I guess they are questioning our pitching.

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They are questioning our coaching too. Last year was really that bad guys

I don't pay much attention to what journalists have to say, but when it comes from other coaches, that's a problem.

GOOD!

HoustonAg2106 said:

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SECTAMU#1 said:

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With three All Americans, I was optimistically thinking 6th or 7th.
I guess they are questioning our pitching.

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They are questioning our coaching too. Last year was really that bad guys

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Yeah, I think it's really mostly because of how last year played out. I understand it, but I also think its somewhat of a surface level take. Earley still deserves a bunch of blame, but if you dive into last year deeper, there is a bunch more nuance into why the season played out as it did.

I think the biggest question is how much can you reasonably expect a coach to improve from his 1st year ever being the head man. This assumption here and across lots of national media feels like they don't expect much improvement there.

I am optimistic about Earley improving. He has made plenty of changes this offseason, and I think the **** show of last year gave him a good idea of what not to do. Hopefully he made the right changes and we take a big step.

#good

That's why they play the games. I don't think we'll be 13th in May.

mvegas said:

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It would be interesting to see what the AD would do (if anything), if the Aggies end up 13th in the conference. Women's soccer and softball (previously) and women's basketball (currently) have been made to languish until the natural end of coaching contracts.

Here's hoping Earley & Co. exceed expectations. Aggie sports seem to perform more effectively with low expectations.

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With baseball being a much higher profile sport, I would expect a change to be made if we end up 13th and/or miss the postseason.

Brauny has been pretty vocal that this is a make or break season for Earley

DaAggies said:

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mvegas said:

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It would be interesting to see what the AD would do (if anything), if the Aggies end up 13th in the conference. Women's soccer and softball (previously) and women's basketball (currently) have been made to languish until the natural end of coaching contracts.

Here's hoping Earley & Co. exceed expectations. Aggie sports seem to perform more effectively with low expectations.

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With baseball being a much higher profile sport, I would expect a change to be made if we end up 13th and/or miss the postseason.

Brauny has been pretty vocal that this is a make or break season for Earley

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Lucky #13 has worked just fine for the basektball team!

I expect we'll do better than 13, but I'm not surprised that's where the coaches have us. They all look at what we did with a talented roster last year, and that makes them skeptical that we'll do much better this year. Hopefully, they will be proven wrong.

Last season was tough to watch but i still did it anyway.

Nothing worse than starting pre-season no. 1 to having our tournament hopes dashed by getting swept at home by a historically awful Missouri team.

Will be easier to watch this season due to lowered expectations.

WGAS... Let's fing PLAY BALL

Good. Hope it pisses the boys off.

It appears the coaches remember what happened last season.

redleg82 said:

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Not surprised. SEC media is lazy and trash.

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Not the media voting - its the coaches. Maybe the coaches are lazy too. Time will tell.

Agsncws said:

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redleg82 said:

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Not surprised. SEC media is lazy and trash.

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Not the media voting - it's the coaches. Maybe the coaches are lazy too. Time will tell.

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Coaches don't have time to do a deep dive into every team, they are going off two things…last year's results and your coach's history of success. Both areas are not good for us going into this year

We'll finish 13 and then everyone here will be begging Earley for another season. #OneMoreChance

You don't think SEC coaches scout their in conference opponents in a league like the SEC with as many analysts employed by the top teams? If they are prepared they are aware of who's who

I would rather start the season underrated and have the opportunity to prove naysayers wrong than to start highly ranked leading to massive disappointment.

magnolia tiger said:

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You don't think SEC coaches scout their in conference opponents in a league like the SEC with as many analysts employed by the top teams? If they are prepared they are aware of who's who

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There has not been a single game to scout as yet, right? I'm not saying they are not unaware of the talent on each team but without a game being played nobody really knows how teams will gel.

The gelling part yes, unless it's a freshmen there's plenty of college tape on all of these players. Especially with the transfer portal these coaches know who's who. I think the 13 ranking is more due to the coach than an indictment on the roster. This league isn't typically one to cut your teeth in

Big question mark on pitching coming in to the season.