Tennessee baseball’s run at the SEC Tournament came to a close Wednesday evening when Arkansas knocked off the Vols 8-4 at the Hoover Met.
The Vols returned to Knoxville on Thursday for an off weekend before receiving their NCAA Tournament draw next Monday, May 25. Where do the Vols project to land in the NCAA Tournament following their departure from the SEC Tournament?
D1Baseball released an updated Field of 64 projection on Thursday with Tennessee landing as a two-seed (No. 24 overall seed) in the Hattiesburg Regional where the Vols match up with No. 9 overall seed Southern Miss, TCU and Illinois-Chicago.
If Tennessee gets past its projected regional they would then match up with the winner of the College Station Regional including No. 8 Texas A&M, UC Santa Barbara, UTSA and Lamar.
Twelve SEC teams are in the D1Baseball projection including Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.
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In past years, the NCAA seeded only the top 16 teams of the tournament. But this year, they are seeding the top 32 teams. While the selection committee does not have to create direct matches (No. 1 overall seed with No. 32 overall seed) they have to create relative matches.
That means that teams seeded No. 1 through No. 4 have to be paired with someone seeded No. 29 through No. 32. Teams seeded No. 5 through No. 8 have to be paired with someone seeded No. 25 through No. 28. Teams seeded No. 9 through No. 12 have to be paired with someone seeded No. 21 through No. 24. And lastly, teams seeded No. 13 through No. 16 have to be paired with teams seeded No. 17 through No. 20.
Tennessee baseball enters the NCAA Tournament boasting a 38-20 (15-15 SEC) record. The Vols struggled out the gats of SEC play, starting 4-8 in their first four series. But starting with a sweep of Mississippi State, the Vols went 11-7 over the next six weeks.
Josh Elander’s first Tennessee team won five of its 10 SEC series. They swept Mississippi State while Vanderbilt swept them. The Vols remained .500 in SEC play by going 1-1 at this week’s SEC Tournament.
Tennessee’s offense has found its rhythm over the last month, becoming a real strength and helping the Vols win three of their final four SEC series. But pitching issue continue to plague the Vols entering the NCAA Tournament.
