Updating Tennessee Baseball's odds to win the 2024 College World Series
Tennessee Baseball has been the No. 1-ranked team in the country the last three weeks and was given the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, but the Vols aren’t the outright favorite to win a national championship.
Tennessee and Texas A&M on Tuesday were both listed at +600 to win the national title, according to odds released by Circa Sports. The Vols and Aggies topped the list, just ahead of Arkansas at +650.
Kentucky was given +1100 odds, ahead of Georgia at +1350 and both North Carolina and Wake Forest at +1500. LSU has +1600 odds.
BetOnline on Tuesday had Texas A&M at 5/1 to win the College World Series, with Tennessee at 11/2 (+550). Arkansas and Kentucky were listed at 9/1 and LSU was 10/1.
No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 4 Northern Kentucky, Friday, 7 p.m. ET
Tennessee, after winning both the regular-season and SEC Tournament championships, is the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team field for the second time in three years and this weekends hosts Southern Miss, Indiana and Northern Kentucky in the Knoxville Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Indiana (32-24-1), the No. 3 seed in the four-team pod, and No. 2 Southern Miss (41-18) open play in Knoxville Friday at Noon Eastern Time, with the game televised by ESPN+. No. 1 Tennessee (50-11) and No. 4 Northern Kentucky (35-22) play at 7 p.m. ET Friday on SEC Network.
The Game 1 and Game 2 losers will play Saturday at 12 p.m. ET and the winners will match up at 6 p.m. ET. Game 3’s winner and Game 4’s loser play Sunday at 12 p.m. ET and the Game 4 winner plays the Game 5 winner Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Game 7 of the regional will be played on Monday, if necessary. Television designations for Saturday and Sunday are to be determined.
Tony Vitello’s NCAA Baseball postseason history with the Vols
Tony Vitello in 2019 took Tennessee back to college baseball’s postseason for the first time since 2005 with a 40-win season in just his second year on the job. The Vols were eliminated by North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional final after wins over UNC Wilmington and Liberty.
In 2021, after the COVID pandemic cancelled the 2020 season, Tennessee won 50 games and went back to the College World Series for the first time since 2005, sweeping LSU in the Knoxville Super Regional before losing to No. 8 Virginia then No. 2 Texas in Omaha.
The Vols won 57 games in 2022 and were the No. 1 overall seed in the postseason, but were upset by Notre Dame in the Knoxville Super Regional.
Tennessee’s 44-win team last season advanced out of the Clemson Regional and won in three games in the Southern Miss Super Regional to go back to Omaha. There, the Vols lost to LSU 6-3, bounced back with a 6-4 win over Stanford but were sent home after a 5-0 loss to LSU.
