After a week of conference tournaments, the NCAA Baseball Tournament is nearing. The NCAA Tournament selection show is on Monday as Tennessee baseball and other teams across the country wait to receiver their draw.
Here’s how to watch the selection show and other Tennessee details to know ahead of the tournament.
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How To Watch NCAA Tournament Selection Show
- Time: Noon ET, 11 a.m. CT
- Network: ESPN
- Streaming link: WatchESPN
Tennessee Is Poised To Make The NCAA Tournament For The Seventh Straight Time
The Vols are poised to make the NCAA Tournament for a seventh straight time dating back to the 2019 season— Tony Vitello’s second as head coach. Tennessee is also the only program nationally to win a regional each of the last five years.
Tennessee lost in the Chapel Hill Regional in 2019 before making the College World Series in 2021. The Vols lost in a home super regional in 2022 before returning to the College World Series in 2023 and winning the national championship in 2024. Tennessee lost in the Fayetteville Super Regional a season ago.
The Vols will go on the road for a regional for the third time since Vitello and first-year head coach Josh Elander arrived in Knoxville. Tennessee lost at North Carolina in 2019 and won the Clemson Regional on its way to the College World Series in 2023.
Where Tennessee Is Projected To Land
There’s a good chance Tennessee will travel on the road to face a program that it has NCAA Tournament experience against.
In their Sunday morning update, D1Baseball projects Tennessee to travel to the Hattiesburg Regional. The Vols previously won the 2023 Hattiesburg Super Regional and then Southern Miss traveled to Knoxville for the 2024 regional.
Baseball America projects Tennessee to head to the Chapel Hill Regional which would be a rematch of the potential 2019 regional final. The Vols also beat the Tar Heels in the 2024 College World Series.
Other potential regional sites for Tennessee include Georgia Tech, Florida State and Kansas.
*D1Baseball’s Monday Morning update has Tennessee in the Lawrence Regional with Kansas while the Vols remain in the Chapel Hill Regional in Baseball America’s update
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How Tennessee Got Back To The Tournament
For a good portion of this season, it looked like Tennessee baseball may miss the NCAA Tournament this season. The Vols dropped a non conference series against Wright State and then started 4-8 in SEC play with a lackluster Vanderbilt team sweeping Tennessee and a poor LSU team winning two of three in Knoxville.
But starting with a sweep of Mississippi State, the Vols went 11-7 over the final six weeks of the regular season. 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 enters the NCAA Tournament boasting a 38-20 (15-15 SEC) record this season.
