The New West Coast Neighbors

It's still a strange reality, but it is the reality nonetheless. The 2025 college baseball season will see Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington compete against Iowa, Penn State, Purdue and Rutgers, and their nine peers, for the Big Ten conference crown. 

Assuredly you know how we've arrived here, football-driven conference realignment that whenever it seems done, another shift of the landscape occurs. It doesn't feel that long awhile when I watched the 2008 Big Ten Tournament, an on-campus, six-team field in Ann Arbor, the Memorial Day Weekend conclusion to a Big Ten season that had 10 teams make up the standings. Two teams in the tournament, Minnesota and Penn State, comprised the longest distance between two conference teams. Now, a Minneapolis to State College journey is a relative walk around the neighborhood in a conference of 17 baseball fielding universities, stretching from New Jersey to Oregon.

When the conference additions of Nebraska and then Maryland and Rutgers took place, there was a slight familiarity of those programs due to being in states adjacent to the Big Ten footprint they were set to expand. Now, as the Big Ten jumps across the Rocky Mountains to welcome its latest newcomers, the former Pac-12 baseball programs are relatively unknowns outside of being brand name institutions. In starting to look ahead to the 2025 season, here's a quick by-the-facts overview of the new programs that will now have their sights set on a trip to Omaha, in May, for the Big Ten Tournament, in addition to hoping end their season there in June on college baseball's grandest stage.

Oregon

Location: Eugene, Oregon

NCAA Tournaments: 11

College World Series Appearances: 1 (1954)

National Championships: 0

Head coach (career W-L): Mark Wasikowski (251-172, ninth season)

2024 Overall Record, (Pac-12): 40-20, (19-11, third)

2024 Postseason: College State Super Regional

Top Returning Pitcher: Jr. LHP Grayson Grinsell 7-2, 4.08, 79.1, 99 K, 44 BB

Top Returning Hitter: Jr. INF Drew Smith .314/.422/.451, 20 XBH

2024 MLB Draft Picks: Five

Most recent result against Big Ten: 2022 Louisville Regional vs. Michigan; L, 6-8

UCLA

Location: Los Angeles

NCAA Tournaments: 25

College World Series Appearances: Five (1969, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013)

National Championships: One (2013)

Head coach (career W-L): John Savage (764-547-3, 23rd season)

2024 Record: 19-33, (9-21, 10th)

2024 Postseason: None

Top Returning Pitcher: Jr. RHP Michael Barnett 5-3, 5.47, 79.0, 55 K, 25 BB

Top Returning Hitter: Soph. INF Roch Cholowsky .308/.399/.500 21 XBH

2024 MLB Draft Picks: Three

Most recent result against Big Ten: March 1, 2024, vs. Michigan; L, 3-4

USC

Location: Los Angeles

NCAA Tournaments: 37

College World Series Appearances: 21 (1948-49, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1960-61, 1963-64, 1966, 1968, 1970-1974, 1978, 1995, 1998, 2000-2001)

National Championships: 12 (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970-74, 1978, 1998)

Head coach (career W-L): Andy Stankiewicz (406-290-3, 14th season)

2024 Record: 31-28, (17-12, fourth)

2024 Postseason: Pac-12 Tournament Runners-up

Top Returning Pitcher: Soph. RHP Caden Aoki 2-3, 3.91, 53.0, 50 K, 10 BB

Top Returning Hitter: Soph. OF Brayden Dowd .324/.401/.400, 8 XBH, 8 SB

2024 MLB Draft Picks: Five

Most recent result against Big Ten: Feb. 27, 2024, vs. Michigan; L, 5-8

Washington

Location: Seattle

NCAA Tournaments: 12

College World Series Appearances: 1 (2018* vacated)

National Championships: 0

Head coach (career W-L): Eddie Smith (82-90, fourth season)

2024 Record: 19-31-1, (10-20, ninth)

2024 Postseason: Pac-12 Tournament, 0-2

Top Returning Pitcher: Soph. RHP Jase Evangelista 1-1, 5.23, 20.2, 21 K, 13 BB

Top Returning Hitter: Sr. OF AJ Guerrero .305/.367/.563, 23 XBH, 14 HR

2024 MLB Draft Picks: One

Most recent result against Big Ten: Feb. 25, 2024 vs. Maryland; W, 6-5