Tennessee trash talk, bravado will make Hogs-Vols appointment television

Tony Vitello left Arkansas as an assistant for Tennessee head job in 2018 and has since built a team that has grown in both on-field accomplishments and bravado. Along the way, Vitello morphed into a borderline spitting image of Sebastian Stan, making him the Winter Soldier to Van Horn's Captain America in this rivalry.

In fitting fashion, the Volunteers have crafted themselves into the bad boys of SEC baseball, although it's unclear whether they realize it.

Their on-field antics are rather similar to the 2022 Oklahoma State team that got under the skin of Arkansas fans so bad with its skipping, trash talking and pretend pony rides. The heart of that team's brashness was Roc Riggio, a bleach blonde kid from California with a mullet in the works.

Riggio and the Cowboys got fans so worked up that one posted on social media that he wanted Riggio to meet him out behind the Brahm's afterward to fight. However, in the third game between the two, a young Hagan Smith took care of Riggio for him.

Tennessee does all the same trash talking and has its own brand of physical gestures it will do throughout the game to try to show up the other team. Then there are times the culture of the team just gets to the Volunteers so much that it's not antics, it's just who they've become.

In the championship game against Georgia Tech, star pitcher Liam Doyle became very angry the Yellowjackets called a timeout during an at-bat. He worked himself into quite the tizzy stomping around the mound and mouthing to himself.

When Vitello started to come out and settle his pitcher down, Doyle told him to stay where is was, chickenhawked his way around the mound a little more, and then hit the rubber and threw the ball like the hitter had just punched his mother.

He then barked at the batter all the way to the baseline before skipping off the field and taking off at a sprint into the locker room even though the game wasn't over.

While the rest of the stuff will simply fire up Arkansas, which has shown it will answer back when teams try to gain a mental edge, this aspect of the Tennessee culture is what gives the Volunteers a fighting chance despite a long history of struggling against the Razorbacks.

Of course Volunteers fans will add to the drama leading up to and during the series in a way that will amp up Razorbacks fans. One Tennessee fan decided to ask AI why other teams hate the Volunteers so much and posted the "results" on social media.

However, this reads more like a fan created a Chat GPT knockoff graphic rather than a legitimate answer. It turns out that it is likely a mix of real responses with a touch of Tennessee flair mixed in to pump up the Vols' image while taking subtle shots at Arkansas.

Here's what ChatGPT actually had to say on the matter.

The two biggest differences are the expansion of references to Vols Nation in a positive loving light and also the clear removal of references by ChatGPT to the high number of ejections Tennessee gets for running its mouth and going over the top. In fact, the ejection of catcher Cannon Peebles in the eighth inning of the championship game against Wake Forest after he struck out will be a story against Arkansas because he will miss time.

There's also the reference by the Tennessee fan's post about Arkansas just being salty because the Volunteers beat the Hogs regularly. This is where, if it wasn't already clear, there's a bit of embellishment in the post.

The Razorbacks are 12-3 against Tennessee in their last 15 games and won the series earlier this year. While it's true there are fans who don't like how Vitello handles himself on the field at times as a coach and they didn't like him getting a national championship before Van Horn, there is no part of their annoyance created by the Vols beating up on the Razorbacks on a regular basis because it just hasn't happened.

Still, this is going to be a hotly contested series. Emotions will be high and all the non-baseball schtick Tennessee does will be on full display.

Of course, the Razorbacks respond with their own way, typically with a big play followed occasionally with a Hog mouthing what a Tennessee player can go do with himself after shutting down whatever it was the other team was attempting to do.

It's going to be fun. It's going to be high drama.

The only sad thing about it is it's not playing out under the lights in primetime. Sadly, the world isn't perfect. Still, it will definitely be must-watch.