Top-ranked Texas A&M picked to win SEC in preseason coaches poll

Opening Day is just nine days away.

Michael Earley’s Fightin’ Texas Aggies are the consensus No. 1 team in the country across all five major polls, and on Wednesday morning, the SEC’s preseason coaches poll was announced.

The league’s coaches have picked Texas A&M to win the conference, as the Aggies received 10 of the 16 first-place votes. Arkansas received a trio of votes, while defending national champion Tennessee, LSU and Florida received singular nods to top the SEC.

In addition to the preseason poll, Birmingham also announced a pair of preseason All-SEC teams.

Four Aggies — Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette, Hayden Schott and Ryan Prager — were named to the first team, while two more — Wyatt Henseler and Caden Sorrell — appeared on the second team.

As a freshman in 2024, Grahovac set the program’s rookie record with 23 homers and became just the second Aggie to be named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year. The California kid finished with a slash line of .298/.390/.596 with 16 doubles and 66 RBIs.

MLB.com’s No. 2 draft-eligible prospect, LaViolette is chasing history. The first player to hit 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons, “Lord Tubbington” sits just six round-trippers behind Daylan Holt’s program record 56. A career .297 hitter in 132 games, LaViolette was a first-team All-American and projects to challenge for the Golden Spikes Award this fall as the top amateur player in the nation.

Schott, a transfer from Columbia, proved to be much more than a big-time personality during his first season in Aggieland. Now the second-oldest player in college baseball, he hit .335 with eight homers and 63 RBIs as A&M’s designated hitter in 2024.

After turning away the Los Angeles Angels this summer, Prager is back after for his redshirt junior season. The All-American left-hander posted a 9-1 record with a 2.95 ERA to go along with 124 punchouts in 97.2 innings pitched as A&M’s ace a year ago.

On the second team, Sorrell earned Freshman All-SEC team honors after his debut campaign, and Henseler, a Penn transfer, has already turned heads even before his Aggie debut.

Earley & Co. open the 2025 campaign on Friday, Feb. 14, against Elon at Blue Bell Park.

2025 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Texas A&M (10) – 228
2. Tennessee (1) – 215
3. Arkansas (3) – 214
4. LSU (1) – 204
5. Florida (1) – 183
6. Georgia – 165
7. Vanderbilt – 156
8. Texas – 146
9. Mississippi State – 112
10. Kentucky - 102
11. Oklahoma – 101
12. Auburn – 100
13. Alabama – 98
14. South Carolina - 61
15. Ole Miss – 60
16. Missouri – 31

() – Denotes first-place votes

2025 Coaches Preseason All-SEC Baseball Team

First Team
C: Ike Irish, Auburn
C: Devin Burkes, Kentucky
1B: Jared Jones, LSU
1B: Hunter Hines, Mississippi State
2B: Cade Kurland, Florida
3B: Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M
SS: Justin Lebron, Alabama*
SS: Dean Curley, Tennessee*
OF: Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M
OF: Ethan Petry, South Carolina
OF: Max Belyeu, Texas*
OF: Tre Phelps, Georgia*
DH/Util: Hayden Schott, Texas A&M
SP: Ryan Prager, Texas A&M
SP: Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas
SP: Liam Doyle, Tennessee
SP: Kade Anderson, LSU
RP: Nate Snead, Tennessee
RP: Alton Davis II, Georgia
RP: Gavin Guidry, LSU

Second Team
C: Rylan Galvan, Texas*
C: Luke Heyman, Florida*
1B: Cooper McMurray, Auburn
2B: Gavin Kilen, Tennessee
2B: Wyatt Henseler, Texas A&M
2B: Daniel Dickinson, LSU*
3B: Andrew Fischer, Tennessee
3B: Slate Alford, Georgia*
SS: Colby Shelton, Florida
OF: RJ Austin, Vanderbilt
OF: Hunter Ensley, Tennessee
OF: Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M
DH/Util: Will Hodo, Alabama
SP: Zane Adams, Alabama
SP: Landon Beidelschies, Arkansas
SP: Hunter Elliott, Ole Miss*
SP: JD Thompson, Vanderbilt*
SP: Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma*
RP: Christian Foutch, Arkansas
RP: Miller Green, Vanderbilt
RP: Robert Hogan, Kentucky

* - Denotes Ties