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Tennessee Vols top 10 moments in athletics for 2018-2019 academic year

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 16: Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the 82-78 win over the Kentucky Wildcats during the semifinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 16: Jordan Bone #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the 82-78 win over the Kentucky Wildcats during the semifinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images
Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images /

5. Baseball makes its first NCAA Tournament in 14 years

This wasn’t a record-breaking or record-tying accomplishment, but it was a drought-ending milestone and one worthy of being on this list. The Tennessee Vols baseball program had been suffering dramatically for years.

After making the College World Series in 2005, they had failed to make the NCAA Tournament through 2018. Mike Hamilton fired Rod Delmonico in 2007 and replaced him with Todd Raleigh, who never won anything in four years. Then Dave Serrano was hired, and while he was qualified on paper, his style didn’t work in the SEC. So he resigned after six years.

That’s when John Currie made what turned out to be one of a few good moves in his short tenure as athletic director before the Greg Schiano fiasco and hired Tony Vitello, an assistant he found from the Arkansas Razorbacks. Vitello had a rough first year but shifted his focus to elite pitching.

It paid off, and this year, UT got off to its best start in school history.They finished the regular season with a 38-18 record. Then they got the invited to the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2005.

That was a major accomplishment for a second-year head coach. Vitello did have a lot of pro talent on the roster, as it showed with all the guys who signed MLB contracts a month later, but breaking that drought was huge for Rocky Top. It was enough to be No. 5 on this list.

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