CLEVELAND - The Mid-American Conference unveiled its 2025 baseball preseason poll on Wednesday, with reigning MAC Tournament Champion Western Michigan picked to finish fifth by the league's head coaches.
Ball State, who WMU beat in last year's MAC Tournament Championship Game, was tabbed as the league's preseason favorite, garnering six first-place votes. Kent State and Miami were voted second and third, respectively, picking up a pair of first-place nods apiece. Last year's regular season champion, Bowling Green, collected the final first-place vote, with Western Michigan rounding out the top five.
In addition to selecting a projected order of finish for the season, the league's head coaches also picked tournament champions. Ball State again led the way with five votes, BGSU and Kent State picked up two apiece, and the Broncos and Miami each garnered one tournament champion vote. For the second consecutive season, the six-team MAC Tournament will be held at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon, Ohio. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in either section of the poll.
Western Michigan is coming off of a 2024 campaign which saw it amass 32 wins, its most since 1993, and go 19-11 in conference play to finish second in the regular season standings, the highest finish for the program since 1990. The Broncos earned the No. 2 seed for the MAC Tournament, and went on a dominant three-day run which saw them outscore their opponents 29-3 on the way to the second MAC Tournament title in school history. With the tournament victory, WMU punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament and made the 13th appearance in program history.
The Broncos begin their 2025 season on Friday, Feb. 14, as they take on Michigan State to open up a four games in three days weekend at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Western Michigan starts MAC play at Ball State from March 7-9, and begins its home schedule from March 14-16 against Eastern Michigan.
2025 MAC Baseball Head Coaches Preseason Poll
| 1. Ball State (6) |
95 |
| 2. Kent State (2) |
84 |
| 3. Miami (2) |
82 |
| 4. Bowling Green (1) |
74 |
| 5. Western Michigan |
66 |
| 6. Toledo |
59 |
| 7. NIU |
39 |
| 8. Ohio |
33 |
| 9. Central Michigan |
32 |
| 10. Eastern Michigan |
23 |
| 11. Akron |
18 |
*First place votes in parentheses
Tournament Champions: Ball State (5), Bowling Green (2), Kent State (2), Miami (1),
Western Michigan (1)
