'Still Gotta Play!' Texas A&M HC Michael Earley Not Fazed By Preseason Rankings

The Texas A&M Aggies have been ranked either no. 1 or near the top of many preseason rankings in the offseason since their second-place finish in the 2024 College World Series.

Texas A&M Aggies right fielder Jace Laviolette (17) and designated hitter Hayden Schott (5) celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Charles Schwab Field Omaha | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

There should be little to no doubt by now that the Texas A&M Aggies are primed and ready to repeat the success they achieved last year, reaching the finals of the College World Series and falling just short to the Tennessee Volunteers.

Now under new leadership in Michael Earley, many publications such as Perfect Game and D1Baseball have ranked the Aggies atop their preseason rankings, and stars such as Jace LaViolette and Ryan Prager have been named as preseason All-Americans.

So much glory. So much publicity.

But none of it is distracting Earley or his ballplayers, who are well aware that there are still games to play, and those games determine the rankings on a weekly basis.

"Yeah, it's cool, it means people think you got good players, but it doesn't really mean anything more than that and the guys understand that. Whether you're one or 100, you gotta go out and play," Earley said. "It's not really something we talk about, we just kind of go about our business."

Earley also talked about the risk that comes with the top ranking, and how each team will be fighting to take the spot from the Aggies every week.

"Being Texas A&M and having the season we had last year and the players we have on the team this year, we've got a target on our back, no matter what the ranking is," Earley said. "Just playing with that edge and you know, don't let someone take what's yours is kind of our mentality."

Earley and the Aggies open up their season when they host the Elon Phoenix on Valentine's Day at Blue Bell Park in College Station.

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