Baseball can be quirky in terms of how the postseason goes, moreso than other sports. It’s not uncommon for a number.1 overall seed to get bounced in their own Regional or for a 3 or 4 seed to get to Omaha. So I always feel like expectations of “Omaha or bust” or “Top 8 seed or bust” may not tell the whole story.
I do think we should be really good and this should without question be our best team since 2021. But it’s also possible there are some Year 1 ups and downs.
In a weird way it’s almost like a Year 0, not in the sense that it’s a rebuild, but in the sense that the roster construction is pretty unique with a number of returning veterans from Lemonis and also some instant impact transfers that Oak brought in, many of who played for him at Virginia. This is kinda the one year where those circumstances will be present, so I almost feel like we will have a better sense of the long term outlook in 2027. But no doubt that 2026 has a chance to be a heck of a first impression.
