The ACC has sent at least 1 baseball team to the College World Series in each of the past 16 seasons it has been held. Considering the abundance of established veteran stars that are back and the healthy infusion of new young talent, the conference is poised to extend that streak in 2023.

Or maybe even send multiple teams to Omaha.

As the boys of spring return to the diamond and prepare for this weekend’s opening games, here are 10 storylines to watch as the season progresses:

10. Back in the Bull City

There’s just something about the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with its Blue Monster wall in left field and oversized bull that snorts smoke whenever someone hits a homer, that feels like home for the ACC’s postseason tournament.

That means the 12-team event will be returning home this spring after a 2-year stay in Charlotte.

This will be the 12th time the tournament will be held in the Bull City and the 7th time in the past 13 that it’s played at DBAP. The venue, which is home to the International League’s Durham Bulls, holds the single-game tournament attendance record of 11,329 for a 2013 game between North Carolina and NC State.

“Our teams and fans always appreciate the first-class experience at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement. “We’ve not only set attendance records, but have enjoyed some of the most exciting games in the history of the ACC Baseball Championship.” 

The tournament will be held from May 23-28 with the winner earning the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

9. Statement season

NC State came within 1 win of advancing to the national championship series in 2021 when it beat Vanderbilt 1-0 behind 7 innings of 2-hit ball by Sam Highfill. 

Since then, nothing has gone right.

First the Wolfpack got sent home without getting a chance to play for the title because of a COVID outbreak among its ranks. Then, despite high hopes and a charismatic young star in Tommy “Tanks” White, they stumbled through a 2022 regular season that didn’t live up to expectations.

The frustration only grew when after advancing to the ACC Tournament final, coach Elliott Avent’s team was snubbed by the NCAA despite a 36-21 record and an RPI rating of No. 33.

Most of the key contributors from the CWS team are gone now. And so is White, who transferred to LSU. But Avent has put together another solid unit, bolstered by the addition of 7 impact transfers. A key to how good this Wolfpack will be – and if they’ll get another shot at pursuing a national title – will be how well Highfill is able to bounce back from an arm injury that sidelined him for most of last season.

8. Hokie hype

Virginia Tech was picked to finish 6th in the Coastal Division last season, finishing only a single point ahead of last-place Pitt in the voting. But thanks to the emergence of freshman right-hander Drue Hackenberg and a batting order that pounded out an ACC-leading 126 home runs, coach John Szefc’s team won the division.

The Hokies went on to win their NCAA regional before falling 1 win short of a trip to Omaha in a 3-game Super Regional against Oklahoma. Now the question is, what can they do for an encore.

As UNC’s basketball team is in the process of proving, success in 1 season doesn’t necessarily guarantee success the following year. Even with a lineup full of returning stars. This Tech team does have a lot going in its favor, starting with the return of Hackenberg and offensive stars Jack Hurley and Christian DeMartini. But it will also carry the weight of expectations it didn’t have a year ago. And that can sometimes be a heavy load to bear.

7. Link to the past (and future)

Florida State cut ties with the Martin family after last season by firing coach Mike Martin Jr. after only 3 seasons. It ended a stretch of more than 4 decades in which the program was led by a Martin.

Mike Jr.’s father Mike Martin Sr. spent 40 seasons as FSU’s coach, compiling an NCAA-record 2,029 victories.

Although school officials were looking toward the future when they decided to make the change, their hire to replace the younger Martin also provided a nod to the past. New coach Link Jarrett played shortstop for the Seminoles in 1993-94, helping them to the College World Series during his senior year.

Jarrett, a Tallahassee native, has a career coaching record of 301-198. He spent the past 3 seasons at ACC rival Notre Dame, where he led the Irish to the CWS in 2022.

6. Irish re-setter

Florida State’s gain is Notre Dame’s loss. Instead of building on the program’s triumphant trip to Omaha, the Irish find themselves building almost from the ground up with the departure of Jarrett and most of the pitching staff that ranked 2nd in the ACC with a 3.94 earned run average.

While there will be a lot of new in South Bend, incoming coach Shawn Stiffler won’t be starting over completely from scratch. He inherits a roster anchored by a core of 4 experienced graduate students – 1st baseman Carter Putz, shortstop Zack Prajzner and outfielders Jack Zyska and Brooks Coetzee.

The Irish were picked to finish 6th out of 7 teams in the Atlantic Division in the ACC’s preseason coaches poll.

5. Plenty of prospects

At least 1 ACC player has been taken in the 1st round of the Major League Baseball draft in each of the past 31 years. There were 2 last summer. Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross went No. 9 overall to the Kansas City Royals while Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada went 2 picks to the New York Mets.

This year’s haul could be even bigger. MLB.com has 5 conference players listed among its top 30 prospects heading into the season. It’s a group that includes Wake Forest pitcher Rhett Lowder, Miami 3rd baseman Yohandy Morales, Boston College outfielder Travis Honeyman, Wake 3rd baseman Brock Wilken and Virginia catcher Kyle Teel.

Looking further into the future, MLB.com ranks North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt as its No. 1 prospect among draft eligible players in 2024, with Wake 1st baseman Nick Kurtz also in the top 10.

4. Fresh faces

For all the established stars returning to ACC lineups this season, there are just as many talented new arrivals ready to make a name for themselves. D1Baseball.com has 7 of the league’s 14 teams ranked among its top 25 freshman classes for 2023.

Louisville has the top rated class, followed by Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Virginia, Miami and Duke.

Among the most notable members of the rookie class are 3rd baseman Cam Smith of Florida State, preseason ACC Rookie of the Year; Louisville shortstop Gavin Kilen, a 13th-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox; Georgia Tech’s 2-way standout Riley Stanford; NC State outfielder Eli Serrano; UVA pitcher Jack O’Connor, Duke pitcher Kassius Thomas and Notre Dame shortstop Estevan Moreno.

3. Free-agent frenzy

As is the case with every other sport, the transfer portal has become an integral component of every coach’s recruiting effort. And no one in the ACC this season has used it as effectively as NC State’s Avent. 

His haul of 7 veteran free agents is rated No. 11 nationally, highest among conference programs, according to D1Baseball.com. Three members of that group – outfielders Carter Trice from Old Dominion, along with the Davidson duo of Trevor Candelaria and Parker Nolan – are listed among the website’s top 50 transfers nationally.

Wake Forest (catcher Bennett Lee from Tulane and pitcher Michael Massey from Illinois) and Virginia (outfielder Ethan O’Donnell from Northwestern and pitcher Connelly Early from Army) each had 2 transfers among the top 50. The other ACC players to make the list are Miami outfielder Ian Farrow (from Florida Gulf Coast), Duke infielder Jay Beshea.

2. Year of the Deacon

In 2011, Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter made headlines by donating a kidney to 1 of his players who needed a transplant. It’s the 1 thing most people know about the Deacons’ program.

That could change this season.

Armed with the reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year Lowder, an explosive offense fueled by the leading candidate for this year’s conference Player of the Year Wilken and more returning starters than anyone in the conference, Wake is the team to beat in the ACC this season. 

The Deacons are also a strong candidate to get to the College World Series for the 3rd time in school history and the 1st since Jack McGinley and Frank McRae led them to the national championship in 1955.

1. Destination Omaha

Speaking of the CWS, it’s become something of an annual tradition for the ACC. Even though teams that were playing as members of the conference at the time have won the national championship only twice in its 75-year history.

The ACC has sent at least 1 team to Omaha in each of the past 16 years the CWS has been played. In all, 9 league teams have made the trip at least once. It’s a good bet that the streak will continue this season. 

There’s also a chance the conference can either match or at least come close to the record it set in 2006, when 4 of its teams qualified for the CWS. In addition to preseason co-favorites Wake Forest and Louisville, Miami, UNC, NC State, Virginia Tech and Virginia are all included in the BaseballAmerica’s preseason Top 25.