Tony Vitello makes his case for Tennessee to host Super Regionals

Don’t expect a clear explanation from Tony Vitello on how the NCAA will decide if Tennessee hosts a Super Regional next weekend. Even the head coach doesn’t know all the details behind how the process plays out.

“Unfortunately,” Vitello said Monday morning during an appearance on 99.1 WNML-FM in Knoxville, “call it ignorance or call it a new format, I can’t explain it to you how it will all go down, other than the committee will get together when all these Monday games are wrapped up, because there are several Monday games and decide where some of the, call it the upset brackets, will be played.”

Tennessee (41-19) taking down Clemson, the No. 4 national seed, and going 3-0 over the weekend to advance out of the Clemson Regional qualifies as one of those “upset brackets.”

So does the Auburn Regional opposite of the Vols, where Auburn, the No. 13 national seed, went 0-2. Now it’s Southern Miss (44-18) playing Penn (34-15) on Monday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN+) in an elimination game to see who the Vols will face in the Super Regional round this weekend.

Vols playing in Super Regional round for third straight year

On Tuesday morning, dates and host sites for Super Regionals will be announced. 

With both national seeds eliminated in the two brackets, it comes down to an NCAA selection committee decision on who should host, based on bids submitted by the programs before NCAA postseason play began.

Both Tennessee and Southern Miss were No. 2 seeds in their respective regions, while Penn was the No. 4 seed in the Auburn Region.

“Since there is no true seeding of the No. 2 seeds (in regionals),” NCAA media representative Jeff Williams said, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, “it would largely just be looking at the merits of the two bids (venue, hotels, guarantees, etc.) but it would be fully a committee decision.”

According to NCAA baseball rules, the selection committee “shall review the hosting proposals according to the site selection criteria (e.g., quality and availability of the facility, revenue potential and other available accommodations) to determine the host. If only one of the teams has submitted a proposal, that team shall host if the proposal is acceptable.”

If venues, hotels and host cities truly play a big part in the decision, Vitello described Knoxville as a no-brainer.

“Unfortunately,” Vitello said, “I’m so used to the old way, where you used to bid this thing out. And really, it became more about the stadium and the town and all those things. In those categories, which I brought up last night, I think we kill it. 

“Knoxville is as good of a place as it gets. And the university will do whatever it takes to host any type of big-time event. It could be a concert, it could be a football game, anything. So I think in those categories, I think it’s a slam dunk.”

If Penn upsets Southern Miss Monday afternoon, the decision would be made for the committee. 

“With Penn it would be automatic,” Vitello said.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Penn or Southern Miss, Super Regionals

Penn beat Auburn on Friday and Samford on Saturday, but lost 11-2 to Southern Miss late Sunday night. Southern Miss loss to Samford Friday night, but stayed alive with a win over Auburn on Saturday, then scored eight runs in the ninth inning to beat Penn Sunday night.

Tennessee beat Charlotte 8-1 on Friday and 9-2 on Sunday, with a 6-5 win over Clemson in a 14-inning thriller in between.

“If Southern Miss wins, then the best thing I can think of is you compare conference, you compare RPI,” Vitello said.

Last week’s RPI update had Tennessee at No. 20, while Southern Miss was just one spot behind at No. 21.

But there’s more working in favor of the Vols according to Vitello. Tennessee was a No. 2 seed, but the Vols were matched up with a No. 4 national seed in Clemson, a team that entered the regional in its own stadium riding a 17-game win streak. 

Vitello believes advancing out of that scenario should hold more value than beating a team in Auburn that was the No. 13 national seed.

“A big thing for me is regional sites,” he said. “We thought we would be one of the highest two seeds in the country, and I don’t know where they necessarily had us, but we got sent to play the hottest team in the country that was a national seed. 

“Auburn was pretty dang good all year long, but they were not seeded as high as Clemson in the tournament. I believe that should be a big factor.”