Tennessee Vols' Tony Vitello makes subtle but understandable complaint about silly rule that the NCAA needs to change going forward

"Yeah, not used to being the visiting team on your home field and usually if we have a bottom of the ninth, I would say by percentage, we feel good about it," Vitello said. "But not a good way to end the game - and there were sloppy parts to it, whether it be the weather or things that were going on - but otherwise a pretty good back and forth battle there.  A lot of things that they did well and we bounce back and do things well, vice versa, but obviously they had the last word there in the bottom of the ninth there and it went their way, so kudos to them and we'll await our time and all the other details that come with tomorrow."

First, Vitello isn't saying that's the reason UT lost, obviously.  No one really is.  But he is saying there is an advantage for having those last at bats, and that's another obvious thing, knowing what you have to do, and whoever is pitching in the bottom of the ninth has that added pressure of the game ending on any given pitch. 

Tennessee wasn't the only school to deal with that.  5 national seed North Carolina lost as the "road" team to Oklahoma on Sunday night, as did 6 seed LSU to Little Rock in Baton Rouge. 

Both teams, like Tennessee, now face an elimination game against their Sunday opponents. 

If the host advantage is going to be given to a team, then it shouldn't be a half measure.  The hosting team earned every bit of that advantage, and it should be a challenge that every visiting team in that region should have to overcome every time they take on the 1 seed. 

It's unlikely to change, as it's been that way for as long as the current format has been in place.  But it's something that, perhaps if enough coaches and media point out the absurdity of it, could eventually be rectified by the NCAA down the line.