Vol baseball still not getting respect from national pundits
The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team is streaking in the right direction at the right time. After a 5-10 start to SEC play, the Vols have righted the ship and reached a 14-13 mark, which includes series sweeps over #4 Vanderbilt and Mississippi State and a series win over then-#1 RPI Kentucky. Unfortunately, for those in […]
The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team is streaking in the right direction at the right time.
After a 5-10 start to SEC play, the Vols have righted the ship and reached a 14-13 mark, which includes series sweeps over #4 Vanderbilt and Mississippi State and a series win over then-#1 RPI Kentucky.
Unfortunately, for those in the know regarding NCAA tournament selection, the turnaround still hasn't been quite enough to project the Vols to remain at home as the tourney begins.
Baseball America and D1 Baseball, two of the biggest college baseball media sites, put out their updated projected fields of 64 teams on Wednesday, and Tennessee fell outside of the top 16 in both. The top 16 teams will host regionals at their home sites.
Baseball America had Tennessee as the first team out of hosting a regional, traveling to 16 overall seed Indiana State as the 2 seed. They stated the following regarding Tennessee's chances of getting over the proverbial hump:
Auburn and Tennessee can make their case with a series win this weekend, while Alabama needs either a sweep or a strong run at the SEC Tournament.
D1 Baseball has the Vols way further down than that, slotting the Vols as the 2 seed in the same regional as 6 overall seed West Virginia. That means the Vols are behind 10 other 2-seeded teams for a hosting spot.
Kendall Rogers, Mark Etheridge, and Aaron Fitt discussed the Vols on their D1 Baseball podcast and did give the Vols a chance to potentially earn a host bid by taking at least two out of three games from South Carolina this weekend in Columbia. They further noted that 3 out of the last 12 SEC teams that have hosted regionals did so with just 16 SEC wins. If the Vols win 2 out of 3 games in Columbia this weekend, they would finish with a 16-14 SEC record.
And, for a team like the 2023 Tennessee Volunteers, getting a regional would be huge. The Vols have gone an impressive 33-5 this season after a 9-5 win over Belmont on Tuesday. Lindsey Nelson Stadium has continued to be a lightning rod for the electric offensive output the Vols have generated in their mid-season turnaround.
If the Vols are going to last beyond the opening weekend, they're going to have to exorcise the demons they've had playing away from home in 2023. And if they're going to play another home game, that massive change has to begin on Thursday in Columbia, South Carolina.
