There have been few years better for Tennessee athletics than 2024. The Vols and Lady Vols won SEC Championships and National Championships.
Tennessee football turned in its second 10-win regular season in the last three years with rivalry wins and a berth in the expanded College Football Playoffs.
Taking a look at the top 10 moments for Tennessee athletics in 2024.
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10. Women’s Basketball Beats Iowa For Kim Caldwell’s First Top 25 Win
There were few moments for Tennessee women’s basketball to celebrate in 2024. The 2023-24 season ended with a Round of 32 loss in the NCAA Tournament and the end of the Kellie Harper era.
Danny White tabbed an up and comer in Marshall’s Kim Caldwell who brought a unique style and most Division II experience to Knoxville.
Tennessee started strong but faced its first big test against No. 17 Iowa on Dec. 7. The Lady Vols trailed in the fourth quarter before ripping off a 16-2 run to beat the Hawkeyes for the first ranked win of Caldwell’s tenure. Tennessee opens SEC play unbeaten.
9. Men’s Basketball’s Monumental Week Against The Yellow Hammer State
Tennessee entered the penultimate week of the 2023-24 regular season right in the thick of the SEC title race with its next three opponents being its competition for the crown.
The Vols trailed Auburn by eight points in Knoxville with 12 minutes to play. Dalton Knecht answered with one of the most dominant stretches of basketball you’ll ever witness. Knecht scored 23 points on nine-of-10 shooting in an eight minute stretch. His 39 points propelled Tennessee past No. 11 Auburn 92-84.
Tennessee traveled to Tuscaloosa just a few short days later to face No. 14 Alabama. The two teams were tied atop the SEC 12-3 with three games to play. Tennessee trailed by seven points in the second half before using dominant defense to turn the Tide in an 81-74 victory.
After Knecht carried Tennessee over Auburn, the win at Alabama was a true team effort. Zakai Zeigler scored 18 points, Josiah-Jordan James scored 11 points and Jahmai Mashack had a critical eight points off the bench while hounding Alabama’s star guards on the other end.
39-point explosion for Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht in a win over Auburn, matching his career high vs Florida. The 6’6 athletic wing showed his dynamic scoring ability from all over the floor, while shooting 41% for 3 on the season. Projected top-20 pick. pic.twitter.com/zOcR7Ka5bj
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) February 29, 2024
8. Women’s Tennis Advances To Final Four
Alison Ojeda’s 2023-24 squad was a strong one, entering the NCAA Tournament at the 16th overall seed. But the Lady Vols exceeded expectations in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee shocked top-seed Oklahoma State in the Super Regionals (Sweet 16) before tackling eight-seed UCLA 4-3 in the Elite Eight to make the program’s first Final Four since 2002.
Ojeda was a player on Tennessee’s 2002 Final Four team and led her alma mater back in her eighth season as head coach.
.@Vol_WTennis becomes the first 16-seed to make it to the Final Four in the modern format! #LadyVols pic.twitter.com/SD44I5Tz8Q
— Reece Van Haaften (@Reece_VH) May 18, 2024
7. Softball Goes Back-to-Back, Wins SEC Championship
The next three are similar accomplishments and could have been ranked in any order but let’s start with softball. Tennessee entered the 2024 season as the reigning SEC Regular-Season and Tournament Champions.
Karen Weekly’s squad defended their crown, clinching the regular-season crown by defeating Kentucky 8-3 on the penultimate day of the regular season.
Tennessee defeated the Wildcats 8-7 the next day to completed 19-5 record during the challenging SEC slate.
6. Men’s Basketball Defeats South Carolina To Clinch SEC Championship
After conquering the Yellow Hammer State, Tennessee headed to South Carolina. A win clinched the outright SEC Regular-Season Title. A loss meant Tennessee would have to beat Kentucky on the final day of the regular season to split the title with the Gamecocks.
Tennessee took care of business in the championship clash in Columbia. The Vols avenged their home loss to South Carolina in January by knocking off the 17th-ranked Gamecocks 66-59 for the program’s first outright regular-season title since 2007-08.
Knecht poured in 26 points as the Vols gritted out a low-scoring affair.
5. Baseball Defends Regular Season Crown, Wins SEC Tournament
Tennessee baseball defeated South Carolina and Vanderbilt knocked off Kentucky on the final day of the regular season to give the Vols a share of the SEC Regular-Season Championship with the Wildcats.
The Vols were the top-seed in Hoover thanks to their regular season series win in Lexington. Tony Vitello’s squad proved they were the SEC’s top team. Tennessee dropped its SEC Tournament opener to Vanderbilt before rattling off four consecutive wins over Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and finally LSU to win the SEC Tournament.
It was the Vols’ third trip to the SEC Tournament Championship in four years and their second victory in three years.
The nation’s No. 1 team is king of the SEC!
Tennessee survives a 9th-inning LSU rally to win the SEC tournament 🍊@SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/35GCVmWSUS
— ESPN (@espn) May 26, 2024
4. Football Defeats Vanderbilt To Make College Football Playoffs
Tennessee needed to beat Vanderbilt to make the College Football Playoffs for the first time. The Vols fell behind 14-0 in the game’s opening moments before taking control and cruising to a 36-23 victory.
It marked Tennessee’s second 10-win regular season in three years and its first College Football Playoff appearance.
3. Men’s Basketball Advances To Second Elite Eight In Program History
Tennessee parlayed its strong regular season with its deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in program history. The Vols torched Saint Peter’s in the opening round of the tournament before surviving a scare against Texas in the Round of 32, setting the stage for two-seed Tennessee to face three-seed Creighton in the Sweet 16.
The Vols and Blue Jays were neck-in-neck for 22 minutes before Tennessee used an 18-0 run to take control of the game. Creighton wouldn’t go away, cutting Tennessee’s lead to three points twice in the final minutes. Dalton Knecht answered both times, drilling triples. Knecht’s 26 points helped the Vols outlast Creighton 82-75.
It marked Tennessee’s second ever trip to the Elite Eight and its deepest NCAA Tournament run under Rick Barnes.
Now 18 unanswered for Tennessee!
The Vols have broken it open against Creighton.pic.twitter.com/il5Nw3aq17
— Heat Check CBB (@HeatCheckCBB) March 30, 2024
2. Football Defeats Alabama
After Nick Saban dominated Tennessee for 18 years, the Vols had an opportunity to make a statement in their first matchup against his successor Kalen DeBoer.
Tennessee failed to score in the first half for the third straight week but found a way to get it done regardless. Jermod McCoy made a one-handed interception in the end zone, Nico Iamaleava found Chris Brazzell for a 16-yard score and Will Brooks iced the 24-17 victory against his home state team with the game sealing interception.
The win marked Tennessee’s second over the Crimson Tide in three tries and proved necessary in the Vols’ run to the College Football Playoffs.
Will Brooks played high school football 65 miles from the University of Alabama campus.
However, the school didn’t offer him a scholarship, so he walked on at Tennessee.
Now, he intercepts Jalen Milroe to hand Alabama its second loss this season.
Crazy.pic.twitter.com/5ngcnY4rrG
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 19, 2024
1. Baseball Wins First National Championship
Christian Moore opened the game with a laser into the Tennessee bullpen, Zander Sechrist tossed 5.1 innings of one-run baseball, Dylan Dreiling smashed a two-run homer in the seventh inning and Hunter Ensley evaded a tag at home for the game’s deciding run.
When Ted Burton chased an Aaron Combs breaking ball, Tennessee secured its first ever National Championship on the hottest day of the year in Omaha.
2,574 days after John Currie tabbed Tony Vitello to revive a dormant Tennessee baseball program, the Vols reached the mountaintop with a 6-5 win over Texas A&M.
Tennessee baseball is the 2024 National Champions. pic.twitter.com/Ziezw2SPey
— Ryan Schumpert (@rschump00) June 25, 2024
One Response
For me the #1 moment is 1-2 punch that Tennessee landed back in January, 2024. When the NCAA showed up to try and come after Nico, Chancellor Plowman told the NCAA to get off our campus. Within a week, the state of Tennessee had filed a lawsuit against the NCAA-which ultimately got a restraining order.
That is LEADERSHIP. And it forced the NCAA to give up their pipe dream of embarrassing Tennessee. It served notice to the rest of our rivals that we’re serious. It served notice to our coaches and players alike that the leadership of the University actually has their backs.