NCAA selection committee proves it's all about storylines with Tennessee Vols' tournament draw

The Tennessee Volunteers know who they're facing first on their road back to Omaha.  And it isn't without a bit of intrigue.   The Vols, who drew the top overall seed in the tournament as expected, will open their tournament against 4 seed Northern Kentucky, who finished 35-22 on the year.  That's nothing particularly noteworthy.  However, […]

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Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns (23) does a throat-slashing gesture while celebrating an inning-ending strikeout during game three of the NCAA baseball super regional between Tennessee and Southern Mississippi held at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Monday, June 12, 2023. Tennessee defeated Southern Miss 5-0 to earn a trip to the College World Series in Omaha.
Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns (23) does a throat-slashing gesture while celebrating an inning-ending strikeout during game three of the NCAA baseball super regional between Tennessee and Southern Mississippi held at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Monday, June 12, 2023. Tennessee defeated Southern Miss 5-0 to earn a trip to the College World Series in Omaha. Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Tennessee Volunteers know who they're facing first on their road back to Omaha.  And it isn't without a bit of intrigue.  

The Vols, who drew the top overall seed in the tournament as expected, will open their tournament against 4 seed Northern Kentucky, who finished 35-22 on the year.  That's nothing particularly noteworthy. 

However, it's the remainder of the regional that's eyebrow raising.  The two seed in the Vols' region is Southern Miss, who's won 41 games this year.  

As Vol fans will recall, there was a lot of controversy last season when Hattiesburg was chosen for the super regional site host between the two schools because both teams won their regional as two seeds.  As such, it was basically a pitch by each school and a decision by the NCAA committee, which went against Tennessee.  

Of course, it all worked out for the Vols, as they took two out of three in Hattiesburg to advance to Omaha for the second time in three seasons.  However, there was still a lot of controversy over the decision to not award the super regional to the Vols.  Perhaps this is their way of saying, "you wanted Southern Miss in Knoxville?  Now, you've got it." 

Should the Vols advance out of their regional, which also includes 3 seed Indiana, they will face the winner of the East Carolina regional.  The selection committee included a little nugget of intrigue there as well, putting Wake Forest in ECU's regional as a 2 seed.  Many UT fans recall that former Vol Chase Burns transferred to Wake Forest last year.  In case you're wondering how he's doing lately, he had 15 strikeouts against national 4 seed UNC last weekend and has struck out 13 or more in his last five starts.  

As such, should Wake advance out of the Greeneville regional and the Vols take care of business, that would make for a very interesting matchup in Lindsey Nelson Stadium the following weekend.  

After all, storylines like that appear to be the endgame of the NCAA. 

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