Texas Longhorns Earn Impressive Preseason Baseball Ranking

The Longhorns were the team of the news cycle before last season, having made headlines after pulling away Schlossnagle from their bitter rivals, the Texas A&M Aggies, despite having just led them to a national championship appearance.

The decision immediately proved fruitful for the Longhorns baseball program, which needed a boost of energy from a new face in the dugout. They had their best record of the past 15 years, finishing 44-14 and bringing an SEC title back to Austin in their first year in the conference.

Now with plentiful talent returning to campus for the 2026 season, headlined by Dylan Volantis, the reigning Baseball America national Freshman of the Year, who could be in line for even more awards if he continues to build off his impressive freshman season. Volantis is part of the 76 percent of pitchers from last season returning this year, who had the sixth-best ERA in the country.

The Longhorns also added plenty of new faces to the returning talent from last season, welcoming 14 freshmen and 10 transfers, which made up the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to Baseball America. Two new additions, Carson Tinney and Aiden Robbins, earned preseason All-American recognition from Perfect Game.

Of the three major college baseball ranking sites, the Longhorns have been consistently ranked in the top-10 so far, reaching as high as third from D1Baseball, while also being named eighth from Perfect Game.

With just under a month until the season kicks off in the 2026 calendar year, the Longhorns have a lot to prove in year two of the Schlossnagle reign. Still, between the returning talent and the newest additions, they have a full roster and the depth pieces necessary to make a run for their first national championship since 2005.