It’s been a different offseason for Georgia. That much is for sure.

Thanks to the $45 million renovation at Foley Field, the last time the Bulldogs faced another team was last June when North Carolina State captured Game 3 of the Super Regionals to advance to the College World Series.

Typically, Georgia would play a pair of exhibition games in the fall. But with fall practices taking place at Athens Academy, there could be no different foe, relegating the Bulldogs to scrimmaging against one another.

“We were all joking about it,” Slate Alford said about getting the season underway Friday at UNC-Wilmington against Quinnipiac. “Our hitters are about ready to face someone else. We’re all just really excited.”

The Bulldogs are also hungry.

The sight of North Carolina State celebrating its trip to Omaha at Foley Field is a memory Alford said he will not forget.

“I mean, it leaves a sting,” Alford said. “So yeah, we're thrilled to get back out there and finish it this year.”

Expectations are high.

The Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the SEC by the league coaches, which falls in line with the preseason thoughts at DIBaseball.com and Baseball America, who see Georgia as a real threat to make it to Omaha.

Newcomer Nolan McCarthy knows a thing or two about what it takes to play in the College World Series. His former team, Kentucky, made its first trip in school history to Omaha last year, and McCarthy remembers his former team's belief before the 2024 season began.

He's noticed the same belief with his new team in Athens.

“The teams that don't believe that they're going to make it there, they usually don't go too far. They don't make it out of regionals,” McCarthy said. “This team, the chatter in the locker room, the chatter in the clubhouse, it's just, it's ‘Hey, we're going to win it all.’ We're the best team in the country, and we fully believe that. You look at the talent, you look at all that. It's unbelievable. Of course, it’s all about how we do it between the lines, but the belief is unbelievable.”

Head coach Wes Johnson said his team welcomes the challenge that lies ahead.

He’s not shying away from it, either.

“It’s not like you're going to hide, so you better get used to it, right? You better, I've said for a long time, I've been in this league for a while,” Johnson said. “You’d better get used to the target a little bit if you're going to be good in this league. Hopefully, we can go out and play well.”