Rankings check: Texas Longhorns baseball slots in at No. 16
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The frigid temperatures don't make it seem like baseball is around the corner, but Texas baseball is now a month out from starting the 2024 regular season.
The Longhorns had their last year end in heartbreak, with a fly ball dropping in Game 3 of the Super Regionals against Stanford with a spot in the College World Series on the line. Optimism is high in Austin as the page has turned to the 2024 season.
D1baseball.com released their preseason top 25 rankings Tuesday and the Longhorns check in at No. 16. It will be the final season in the Big 12 for Texas, whose only conference foe ahead of them is TCU at No. 5. Texas Tech, ranked at No. 21, and Kansas State, voted No. 24, are the other Big 12 teams in the top 25.
A number of key returners like Lebarron Johnson Jr, Tanner Witt, Porter Brown and Jared Thomas give Texas some stability under head coach David Pierce.
There will be a number of tests early for the Longhorns who face No. 4 LSU, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 8 Texas A&M all within the first five days of March.
Texas will open the regular season Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. against San Diego at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin.