Rick Barnes, Josh Heupel set to be in Omaha for Game 3 of Tennessee-Texas A&M

Tennessee and Texas A&M will play for a national title Monday night at the College World Series. Vols basketball coach Rick Barnes and football coach Josh Heupel will reportedly be in attendance for the game.

Ben McKee posted on Twitter Monday afternoon that Heupel and Barnes are flying into town. Tennessee athletics later confirmed the duo would be on hand.

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“Rick Barnes and Josh Heupel will be in Omaha for tonight’s game,” he reported.

Rick Barnes has been the head basketball coach at Tennessee since 2015. He has won a pair of regular season SEC titles, including this past season.

Tennessee basketball reached the Elite 8 in 2024, before falling to Purdue.

Josh Heupel has been the football coach at Tennessee since 2021. He has helped turn around the Vols program, going 20-6 across the past two seasons.

Tennessee and Texas A&M are tied at 1-1 in the College World Series finals. The Aggies won Game 1 9-5 on Saturday, before the Vols earned a come-from-behind 4-1 win on Sunday.

First pitch on Monday is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Tony Vitello describes his mindset as Tennessee becomes one win away from national championship

No. 1 Tennessee is one win away from winning the College World Series. There’s a lot to approach in that scenario for Tony Vitello and the Volunteers with them about to play a winner-take-all in Omaha tonight.

Vitello discussed his mentality after the Vols avoided elimination and a runner-up finish with a 4-1 win over Texas A&M on Sunday. For him, he just wanted to get a good night’s sleep last night and visit with some loved ones beforehand in order to prepare himself for today’s moment.

“No, I left one of my damn AirPods — I had one in and I could hear the party out on the street. So last night was tough to sleep,” said Vitello. “I’ll put both those in. You just go sound machine — brown noise instead of white noise for me personally. You can make your own selection.”

“But, yeah, you’ve got to eat. You’ve got to rest,” Vitello continued. “You’ve got to say hi to your family. Got some friends in town. So probably can’t take in Omaha the way they will but at least say hi to them.”

As for his players, Vitello said Tennessee is raring to go for their final game. However, while they have been in this spot before, this is a Game 3 that they can’t afford to lose. That’s why he wants them to lock in how they need to in time for first pitch this evening.

“I think you just gotta be a dude because they’re probably chomping at the bit to get back out there in the old backyard baseball redo or rematch,” Vitello said. “I think our guys, just hearing their conversations? It’s kind of like, you know, 1-1 has kind of been the theme for us this year. A lot of game threes. So you can’t do that, though. You’ve got to be a dude and do those things.”

“Then start to filter down to game time and we’ll approach pregame as we see fit. And then, 6:09, just play ball,” said Vitello.