After winning the program’s first national championship in 2024, expectations were high for Tony Vitello and Tennessee baseball in 2025. Landing Ole Miss transfers Liam Doyle and Andrew Fischer, among others, to pair with returners had eyes set on an attempted return to Omaha and the College World Series.
However, the Vols had an up-and-down regular season, finishing 16-14 in SEC play. While it was enough to earn the opportunity to host another Knoxville Regional in the NCAA Tournament, there were frustrations about wins left on the table.
Ultimately, Tennessee finished with a run to the Fayetteville Super Regional, where it lost to Arkansas. While that was below the remarkably high expectations Vitello had set for the program during his tenure, if you compare it to other defending champions since COVID, it’s undoubtedly the best.
A closer look at other reigning champions since Mississippi State’s title defense in 2022 sees that three of the five teams didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament the following year. That includes LSU this year, which found immense struggles and has seen its season come to a close.
The only other team to reach the NCAA Tournament was LSU in 2024, but that team was bounced in the Chapel Hill Regional finals by North Carolina.
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Here’s a year-by-year look at college baseball’s defending champions’ seasons since COVID:
- 2026: LSU
- Overall Record: 30-28
- SEC Record: 9-21
- Postseason
- NCAAT?: No
- Regional Host?: No
- Super Regional?: No
- CWS?: No
- 2025: Tennessee
- Overall Record: 46-19
- SEC Record: 16-14
- Postseason
- NCAAT?: Yes
- Regional Host?: Yes
- Super Regional?: Yes
- CWS?: No
- 2024: LSU
- Overall Record: 43-23
- SEC Record: 13-17
- Postseason
- NCAAT?: Yes
- Regional Host?: No
- Super Regional?: No
- CWS?: No
- 2023: Ole Miss
- Overall Record: 25-29
- SEC Record: 6-24
- Postseason
- NCAAT?: No
- Regional Host?: No
- Super Regional?: No
- CWS?: No
- 2022: Mississippi State
- Overall Record: 26-30
- SEC Record: 9-21
- Postseason
- NCAAT?: No
- Regional Host?: No
- Super Regional?: No
- CWS? No
