Tennessee baseball NCAA Tournament projections: Where Vols are seeded, ranked

Tennessee baseball is headed toward a national seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past three seasons.

UT is projected as a top-8 seed, which means it would a regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium and a super regional, if it advances.

The No. 1 Vols (43-10, 19-8 SEC) host No. 23 South Carolina (33-18, 13-14) in a weekend series starting Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).

Here is where the Vols are projected:

Baseball America’s projection for Tennessee baseball

Baseball America projects Tennessee will be the No. 3 national seed and host the Knoxville Regional. No. 4 Wright State would be UT's first opponent. No. 2 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Indiana are projected as the other two teams in the regional.

The Knoxville Regional is paired with the Charlottesville Regional, which could result in a super regional matchup against Vanderbilt. The Commodores are the No. 3 seed in the Virginia-hosted regional.

What is Tennessee baseball’s RPI? 

The Vols sit at No. 6 in the RPI. According to Warren Nolan Baseball, Tennessee has played the 25th-toughest schedule in the nation. UT is 13-9 against Quad 1 opponents. The Vols are unbeaten against Quad 2 and Quad 3 opponents with an 11-0 mark. UT is 19-1 against Quad 4 opponents with the lone loss coming against Lipscomb.

Tennessee baseball's NCAA Tournament history under Tony Vitello

Tennessee is in the midst of its best era in program history under coach Tony Vitello. It has reached the NCAA Tournament in five straight seasons.

UT has gone to the College World Series in two of the past three seasons, breaking through to reach the 2021 CWS after not making it to Omaha since 2005. The Vols went back in 2023 and won a game for the first time since 2001 to snap a six-game losing streak.

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The Vols held the No. 1 ranking in the nation for two months in the 2022 season before losing in the third game of the Knoxville Super Regional against Notre Dame.

Tennessee reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019 for the first time since 2005. It lost to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional.

How many times has Tennessee baseball been to the College World Series?

Tennessee has been to the College World Series six times, including the two under Vitello.

UT reached the CWS for the first time in 1951. It went back in 1995 before making to Omaha again in 2001 and 2005.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.