TCU was picked as the preseason favorite in a vote by the league’s head coaches in the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll. It is the third time in the last four seasons that the Horned Frogs have taken the top spot in the preseason poll and the sixth time in program history. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team or players.
The Horned Frogs were unanimously voted as the favorite by the league’s head coaches, receiving all 13 possible votes. The Horned Frogs are coming off their 18
th trip to the NCAA tournament in the last 21 years. Arizona was picked second after winning the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Tournament in its debut season as a Big 12 member and received one first-place vote. The 2025 Big 12 regular season champion, the West Virginia Mountaineers, slotted into the third spot, followed by Arizona State at No. 4, which won 18 league games a season ago.
Kansas and Oklahoma State tied for No. 5 in the poll following the Jayhawks’ 43-win season in 2025 and the Cowboys’ 12
th consecutive NCAA Regional last year. Kansas State came in at No. 7 in the wake of earning back-to-back NCAA selections for the first time since 2010-11, with Cincinnati closely behind at No. 8 after its first NCAA at-large berth since the 1974 season.
Texas Tech is No. 9 and UCF is No. 10, followed by Baylor at 11
th, Houston at 12
th, BYU at 13
th and Utah at 14
th.
TCU took three of the four preseason yearly awards, with Sawyer Strosnider voted as the Preseason Player of the Year, Tommy LaPour selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year and Lucas Franco being named the Preseason Freshman of the Year. Arizona State’s Dean Toigo was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year to round out the Conference’s preseason individual awards.
Strosnider was named the Perfect Game National Freshman Player of the Year and the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year in 2025 after leading the country in triples and helping TCU finish with the second-most triples in the country. He became the first player since 2010 and the first freshman since 2001 to post double-digit totals in doubles (13), triples (10), home runs (11) and stolen bases (10). The sophomore has been named to the Preseason All-American First Team by Perfect Game and Second Team by Baseball America and D1 Baseball. He is the second Horned Frog to earn the distinction in program history.
LaPour recorded the second-lowest ERA in the Big 12 in 2025 with a 3.09 mark. He led TCU in wins (8), innings pitched (90.1) and strikeouts (88) while limiting opponents to a .231 average and was a perfect 6-0 in Conference play last season. The junior righty is the second TCU player to receive the award.
Toigo will don the maroon and gold in 2026 after being named the Mountain West Co-Player of the Year in 2025. The left-handed hitter finished last season batting .377, 18 home runs and 74 RBI. The UNLV transfer’s 74 RBI were the 19
th-most in the country and led the Mountain West, while his 18 homers were the most in the Conference.
Franco was the No. 5 overall prospect in the state of Texas by Perfect Game after holding the school record at Cinco Ranch High School for walks and tying the school record in stolen bases. The Katy, Texas native was named to the THSCA Super Elite Baseball Team as a junior and also earned first-team all-state honors. He is the third Horned Frog to garner the accolade.
LaPour and Strosnider were joined by Kansas’ Brady Ballinger as those unanimously selected to the preseason All-Big 12 team.
All 14 Big 12 squads open the season on Friday, Feb. 13.
2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll
| 1. TCU (13) |
169 |
| 2. Arizona (1) |
157 |
| 3. West Virginia |
137 |
| 4. Arizona State |
128 |
| T5. Kansas |
112 |
| T5. Oklahoma State |
112 |
| 7. Kansas State |
87 |
| 8. Cincinnati |
85 |
| 9. Texas Tech |
78 |
| 10. UCF |
66 |
| 11. Baylor |
54 |
| 12. Houston |
42 |
| 13. BYU |
29 |
| 14. Utah |
18 |
2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Team
| C |
Jack Natili |
Cincinnati |
| IF |
Landon Hairston |
Arizona State |
| IF |
Austen Roellig |
Arizona State |
| IF |
Travis Sanders |
Baylor |
| IF |
Brady Ballinger* |
Kansas |
| IF |
Robin Villeneuve |
Texas Tech |
| OF |
Andrew Williamson |
UCF |
| OF |
Chase Brunson |
TCU |
| OF |
Sawyer Strosnider* |
TCU |
| OF |
Logan Hughes |
Texas Tech |
| DH |
Dariel Osoria |
Kansas |
| UTL |
Noah Franco |
TCU |
| SP |
Owen Kramkowski |
Arizona |
| SP |
Nathan Taylor |
Cincinnati |
| SP |
Dominic Voegele |
Kansas |
| SP |
Tommy LaPour* |
TCU |
| RP |
Tony Pluta |
Arizona |
| RP |
Cole Carlon |
Arizona State |
| RP |
Chase Meyer |
West Virginia |
*- unanimous selection
2026 Big 12 Preseason Yearly Awards
Player of the Year: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Pitcher of the Year: Tommy LaPour, TCU
Newcomer of the Year: Dean Toigo, Arizona State
Freshman of the Year: Lucas Franco, TCU