Tennessee set to begin season ranked No. 2 by USA Today coaches poll

For the second time in as many days, the Tennessee baseball program has received a No. 2 preseason ranking. On Tuesday, it was from the USA Today coaches poll.

The publication, which is one of the five national polls for college baseball, has the Vols second behind Texas A&M entering the 2025 campaign. Tennessee knocked off the Aggies last summer in an epic Finals Game 3 to capture the College World Series crown.

LSU, Virginia and Arkansas comprise the rest of the top-five while Florida State, Oregon State, North Carlina, Georgia and Florida round up the top-10. In total, 11 teams from the Southeastern Conference are ranked inside the preseason top-25 by the publication, including six in the top-10.   

Tennessee already received preseason nods in the top-five from the NCBWA (No. 2), Baseball America (No. 3), D1 Baseball (No. 4) and Perfect Game (No. 5).

The Vols (60-13) finished the 2024 season with the first national championship in program history and became the first team from the Southeastern Conference to eclipse the 60-win marker in a single season. Tennessee went an impressive 10-2 in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and snapped the ‘curse’ of No. 1 overall seeds not winning the title, a streak that dated back to Miami in 1999.  

Tennessee’s 60 wins last year were the most of any team since Florida State in 2002 and the most of any national champion since Wichita State in 1989. It was the second straight trip to the College World Series in Omaha for Tennessee, the third in four years and the first time the Vols played for a national title since their first trip there in 1951. 

Vitello has rewritten the Tennessee Baseball record books, leading the country the last four seasons in wins (211), win percentage (.773), NCAA Tournament wins (25) and home runs (566).

The Vols won everything they could in 2024 – winning the SEC’s regular-season championship, the SEC Tournament championship, Knoxville Regional and Knoxville Super Regional. The team lost back-to-back games on March 16 and 17, then never lost consecutive games again. They went 7-0 while facing elimination in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, including coming back from down 0-1 in the best-of-three College World Series championship series against Texas A&M. 

Tennessee opens the 2025 season at home against Hofstra on Friday, February 14.

Tennessee Vols in the 2025 Preseason Rankings

USA Today – No. 2
NCBWA – No. 2
Baseball America – No. 3
D1 Baseball – No. 4
Perfect Game – No. 5

Tennessee Vols 2025 Preseason Accolades

SS Dean Curley: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game) | No. 8 sophomore in country (Perfect Game)
RHP Nate Snead: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | Second-Team All-American (Perfect Game) | No. 38 junior in country (Perfect Game)
3B Andrew Fischer: Third-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 14 junior in country (Perfect Game)
RHP AJ Russell: First-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 30 junior in country (Perfect Game)
INF Gavin Kilen: Second-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 25 junior in country (Perfect Game) | SEC’s Best Transfer (Baseball America)
LHP Liam Doyle: Third-Team All-American (Baseball America) | No. 55 junior in country (Perfect Game)
C Cannon Peebles: No. 92 junior in country (Perfect Game)
OF Hunter Ensley: No. 2 senior in country (Perfect Game)
UTL Alex Perry: No. 73 senior in country (Perfect Game)
UTL Jay Abernathy: No. 3 Best Freshman (Baseball America) | No. 6 Best Freshmen (Perfect Game)
UTL Levi Clark: No. 21 Best Freshman (Perfect Game)
RHP Tegan Kuhns: No. 46 Best Freshman (Perfect Game)
RHP Anson Seibert: No. 52 Best Freshman (Perfect Game)
MIF Manny Marin: No. 56 Best Freshman (Perfect Game)