NOTE: the No. 1 Story of the Year will be published tomorrow as we want to alert our readers to the deadline in THREE DAYS (Monday, Jan. 5) for the first-ever 2031 Line Drive HOT 100.

The rankings will then start Monday, Jan. 12, 2025…

*** Click HERE to access the NOMINATION form.

Each weekday for a two-week period, we will honor deserving prospects via our countdown of 10 spots each day following this schedule:

• #’s 100-91 (Mon., Jan. 12, 2026)
• #’s 90-81 (Tue., Jan. 13, 2026)
• #’s 80-71 (Wed., Jan. 14, 2026)
• #’s 70-61 (Thu., Jan. 15, 2026)
• #’s 60-51 (Fri. Jan. 16, 2026
• #’s 50-41 (Mon., Jan. 19, 2026)
• #’s 40-31 (Tue., Jan. 20, 2026)
• #’s 30-21 (Wed., Jan. 21, 2026)
• #’s 20-11 (Thu., Jan. 22, 2026)
• #’s 10-1 (Fri. Jan. 23, 2026)

Following the Class of 2031’s rankings, the Classes of 2030, ’29, ‘28 and ’27 will follow… here’s the schedule for 2026:

Here’s the complete schedule for 2026 involving the five classes being honored:

• 2031 Line Drive HOT 100: Jan. 12 to Jan. 23, 2026
  • nominations are officially open now
• 2030 Line Drive HOT 100: Mar. 16 to Mar. 27, 2026
  • nominations officially open on Feb. 1.
• 2029 Line Drive HOT 100: May 11 to May 22, 2026
  • nominations officially open on Apr. 1.
• 2028 Line Drive HOT 100: Aug. 17 to Aug. 28, 2026
  • nominations officially open on July 1.
• 2027 Line Drive HOT 100: Oct. 5 to Oct. 16, 2026
  • nominations officially open on Sept. 15

The Line Drive Hot 100 is spearheaded by Line Drive Softball Executive Editor Brentt Eads, who began the softball player and team rankings format 20 years ago and in that time has done close to 50 grad class rankings.

Each class is updated several times leading up to the players’ high school graduation and transition into college.

For more information, contact Brentt Eads at Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com.