College baseball in the state of Tennessee has become a pretty big thing over the past decade. The Vanderbilt Commodores won the College World Series in 2014 and 2019. Tennessee has also sprung back to national relevance under the guidance of Tony Vitello over the last four seasons, making the College World Series in 2021 and 2023.
Recently the schools have developed quite the rivalry, as both have battled and won SEC titles over the last two years. The fan bases don't like each other. Vandy has the whistler. The Vols' players have a swagger that they've inherited from their outspoken head coach.
That feud will continue to unfold in perpetuity after Thursday's news.
The SEC announced Thursday that each SEC program will have two permanent opponents for baseball each season beginning in 2025. For Tennessee, that will be Vanderbilt and Alabama.
The conference's release explained the reasons for how the permanent opponents were determined. Said reasons were geography, traditional opponents, and strength of schedule.
For those reading the tea leaves for a future football announcement, that particular thinking by the conference bodes well for those who want to see regional traditional rivalries remain in place on the gridiron.
The conference also announced that in addition to the two permanent opponents, each team will take on 8 other teams on a rotating basis for 30 conference games. There will be no divisions any longer, with all teams being placed in a single division.
As such, the Vols and Commodores will continue to face off not just for positioning in the SEC, but also for state bragging rights. When two of the best programs in the country are in the Volunteer State, that's no small thing.
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