The NCAA could have a huge opportunity involving Tennessee Vols baseball and they should take advantage of it. 

On Monday, the brackets for the NCAA Tournament will be revealed.

Tennessee, regardless of what happens in the SEC Tournament this weekend (the Vols lost their first game to Vanderbilt before beating Texas A&M in their second game), will host a regional. 

The same can't be said for the preseason No. 1 team in the nation, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. 

Wake Forest didn't have quite the season they expected, going 15-15 in conference play. As a result, Wake Forest might not even host a regional in the NCAA Tournament. 

In fact, the latest projections from D1Baseball have Wake Forest traveling to Athens to play in a regional hosted by the Georgia Bulldogs. 

Look, if Wake Forest isn't hosting a regional in Winston Salem, then the NCAA absolutely has to send them to Knoxville. 

A Wake Forest vs Tennessee matchup in a regional in Lindsey Nelson Stadium would be must-watch television thanks to the unexpected rivalry that's developed between the two programs over the last year. 

That unexpected rivalry stems from from former Vols RHP Chase Burns' transfer to Wake Forest after the 2023 season. 

Burns transferred to Wake Forest after he was removed from the Vols rotation in 2023. Burns, who was elite out of the bullpen for Tennessee after his removal from the rotation, likely would've regained his spot in the rotation for the 2024 season had he stayed at Tennessee. But the damage was done once Burns lost his spot in the rotation — his mind was made up that he was leaving Tennessee. 

The Demon Deacons threw some shade at the Vols earlier this season via some tweets (which have since been deleted…though screen shots live forever) that referenced Burns as "starter Chase Burns". They also sent a tweet that said "kill the narrative", which most fans took as a shot at Tennessee and the Vols' decision to put Burns in the bullpen last season. 

Wake Forest pitching coach Corey Muscara added some fuel to the fire recently when he referred to Tennessee fans as "belligerent" in an interview with The Athletic. 

“Twitter is out of control," said Muscara. "The Tennessee fans are belligerent, and they hound him 24-7, no matter what happens, and about how he’s a bad teammate, he’s a cancer."

College baseball fans — specifically Tennessee fans and Wake Forest fans — deserve to see these two teams in the same regional. And who wouldn't want to see Burns, a likely future MLB starter, pitch one more time in Knoxville?

Give the people what they want, NCAA. 

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