The Tennessee Volunteers will begin defense of their 2024 national championship inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Nearly a year after Tennessee became the NCAA baseball tournament’s first top overall seed to win the College World Series crown since the 1999 Miami Hurricanes, Tony Vitello’s Vols have earned one of the 16 regional round host sites. The NCAA released the 16 regional hosts in alphabetical order Sunday night on social media and will reveal the seeds and the entire 64-team bracket at noon Monday on ESPN2.
Tennessee (43-16) is one of eight Southeastern Conference programs among the 16 regional hosts, with the Vols joined by Arkansas (43-13), Auburn (38-18), Georgia (42-15), LSU (43-14), Ole Miss (40-19), Texas (42-12) and Vanderbilt (42-16). The other host teams are Clemson (44-16), Coastal Carolina (48-11), Florida State (38-14), North Carolina (42-12), Oregon (42-14), Oregon State (41-12-1), Southern Miss (44-14) and UCLA (42-16).
The Vols reached the semifinals of the SEC tournament with wins over Alabama and Texas before getting demolished by Vanderbilt 10-0 Saturday in seven innings. The Commodores went on to win the league’s inaugural 16-team event Sunday with a 3-2 topping of Ole Miss.
“It would be awesome, and I obviously love playing in that stadium,” Tennessee senior center fielder Hunter Ensley said of a host site during a news conference following Saturday’s setback, “but to be honest, it doesn’t really matter to me whether we’re home or away. I’m just looking forward to competing a few more times.”