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Peyton Manning: This is not the last Tennessee national championship

By Colton Pickard

Jun 24, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, Peyton Manning and Morgan Wallen watch the game against the Texas A&M Aggies during the fourth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 24, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, Peyton Manning and Morgan Wallen watch the game against the Texas A&M Aggies during the fourth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
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Tennessee baseball won its first national championship in program history on Monday. Peyton Manning joined the post-game celebrations on the field and emphasized this isn’t the last time you will see the Big Orange celebrating a national title.

The BaseVols won Game 3 of the College World Series Finals, beating Texas A&M 6-5. Tony Vitello’s squad made their first trip to Omaha in 2021 under his leadership and has been knocking on the door ever since.

The 2024 Vols won 60 games on their way to a historic season. Not only did Tennessee hit 184 home runs during the season, but it also brought home three trophies: a regular season SEC Championship, an SEC Tournament Championship, and a College World Series Championship.

This is the first major national championship for the athletics program in quite a while, but that doesn’t mean it will be the last. Over the past several years, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and football have all been steadily improving, setting themselves up for a run just like the 2024 BaseVols.

Former Tennessee quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning agrees. He joined Vitello and his squad on the field post-game to celebrate the national title and said this is not the last national championship for Tennessee.

Looking at the growth of each sport over the past few years, he’s right if each sport takes the same trajectory as the baseball program. Josh Heupel’s football team has gone 20-6 the past two seasons and won two straight bowl games.

Rick Barnes’ basketball team has put together three of the best years of his career, going 79-28 over that span while winning a regular season SEC Championship and SEC Tournament Championship. The 2023-24 season was also the first time the Vols advanced to the Elite 8 under Barnes.

The Lady Vols softball program is still in the national title picture, competing with the best softball programs nationwide for the top spot. The Lady Vols basketball program is resetting under new head coach Kim Caldwell, who has already been picking up wins on the recruiting trail.

Whether Vitello regroups and runs it back in 2025 or another sport enters the national title picture throughout the 2024-25 season, we could be in for another Big Orange Title soon.