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Recent NCAA Tournament projection sees Tennessee Vols making a short trip down the interstate

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Craig Smith | Last updated May 18, 2025 5:22 PM ET

The Tennessee Volunteers are living on the edge lately, particularly when it comes to their chances of being a top 16 seed and a first-round host in the upcoming NCAA Tournament that gets underway later this month.

The Vols are likely on the bubble for a host site, which is reflected by them currently having an RPI of 16 as per D1 Baseball.

However, one particular outlet doesn't see them quite being in a position at present to host. 11 on 7 put out their latest NCAA Tournament field projections, and the Vols are not among the 16 teams listed as hosts. Instead, they're a 2 seed in the Atlanta regional hosted by Georgia Tech, who's listed as the 14 overall seed.

Field of 64 Projection

UCLA, GaTech, Florida, Alabama need to avoid 0'fer weeks pic.twitter.com/R3wj7M5cPv
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 18, 2025

Georgia Tech - who won the ACC regular season title this year - and Tennessee haven't faced off since the 2022 postseason. The Yellow Jackets were the 3 seed in the Vols' opening regional. Tennessee defeated Tech 9-6 to clinch the regional and head on to the Super Regionals.

Getting back to 11 on 7's projection, given the tournament seeding format, being a 2 seed in the 14 overall seed's bracket is indicative of the Vols being close to earning a host site, but not quite getting it. The 16 seed gets the toughest two, the 15 the next toughest, and so on down the line. That puts the Vols close, but not quite there.

Of course, that can all change this week in Hoover, as the Vols will begin their conference tourney slate by taking on the winner of Alabama and Missouri on Wednesday morning. If Tennessee was to win there, they would face the Texas Longhorns in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A win there would put the Vols in position to face likely national seed contenders Vanderbilt or Georgia.

As such, it's all still right there for the taking for the Vols - if they can pick up a big win or two next week.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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