The Tennessee Vols made some program magic back in 2023 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. One national outlet thinks that’s where the Big Orange could start their quest to return to Omaha again. T

he NCAA Tournament bracket is set to be announced on Monday, and at this point, the Vols appear to be a lock to be a 2 seed in some region.

And D1 Baseball believes that could be the site of where the 2023 Tennessee baseball team earned a trip to the College World Series. D1 put out their latest projection on Saturday, and they have Tennessee as the 2 seed in Southern Miss’s region, who they have as the No. 9 overall seed.

D1 Baseball projects Tennessee as the 2 seed in the Hattiesburg regional (Southern Miss)

Tennessee and Southern Miss came into the 2023 Super Regional with a little bit of controversy. As both teams were 2 seeds, it came down to the NCAA designating which of the schools would get to host the Super Regional.

That honor went to the Golden Eagles, leaving a bit of a bad taste in Tennessee fans’ mouths and generating some online snarkiness between the fan bases (remember how Vol fans cracked on Hattiesburg for not having an Applebees and the ensuing back and forth between the fan bases?).

Southern Miss would go up 1-0 in the series, the Vols’ backs were against the wall. However, Tennessee would rally to win the next two games and book their ticket to Omaha for the second time in three seasons.

It’s unlikely that fact has been forgotten by Golden Eagles fans — and the NCAA loves to create storylines, even though they’ll never forget it — so a Tennessee return would certainly bring some interest to the regional.

We’ll find out soon enough if that prediction comes to fruition, as the full tourney bracket will be announced on Monday at noon ET.