All for Tennessee
Fansided

Ranking Tennessee baseball’s five College World Series teams of all time

By Caleb Calhoun

7 Jun 1995: Tennessee players console each other after losing to Cal State Fullerton in a College World Series game at Rosenblatt Stadium. Cal State won the game, 11-0.
7 Jun 1995: Tennessee players console each other after losing to Cal State Fullerton in a College World Series game at Rosenblatt Stadium. Cal State won the game, 11-0. /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
OMAHA, NE – JUNE 12: Banners with the names of the participating teams wave outside the stadium at the College World Series on June 12, 2001 at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. The Titans won 11-2. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE – JUNE 12: Banners with the names of the participating teams wave outside the stadium at the College World Series on June 12, 2001 at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. The Titans won 11-2. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

48-20; CWS 3rd place

Remember Chris Burke being the hottest prospect out there? That was the story of Tennessee baseball in 2001. Four years before Rod Delmonico’s final College World Series appearance with the program, he had a great team led by Burke that came extremely close to winning the national championship, closer than any other team in the modern era.

Now, the 2021 team actually had a better regular season with two more wins and an SEC East title. Also, the 2001 team didn’t have a top seed in the NCAA Regionals, and it didn’t go undefeated, actually losing to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons once before advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals, where they swept the East Carolina Pirates.

In the CWS itself, however, after losing to the Miami Hurricanes, the Vols dominated the No. 3 seed USC Trojans to face Miami again in the semifinals. They lost to Miami again as well, but the U did go on to win the national title, so there was no shame in either loss.

Of course, a CWS win alone isn’t enough to put this team up here. We also did it because that SEC East title won by the 2021 team is a bit by default, as the Vanderbilt Commodores played one less game. If they played the same number of games, Vandy would’ve had the tiebreaker with the same record, and both the 2001 and 2021 teams would be second in the East.

Home/Vols Baseball