Tennessee baseball is on its way to a seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
As they enter the SEC Tournament, the Vols (37-19) are considered a lock to make a regional in their first year under coach Josh Elander. They spent a solid portion of the season on the bubble, but over the final weeks of the season played themselves squarely into the field as a likely No. 2 seed.
It finished 10th in the SEC and will face No. 15 seed South Carolina (22-34) in the first round of the conference tournament on May 19 (5:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Alabama.
Tennessee is ranked in the USA TODAY coaches’ poll, coming at No. 25 for its first appearance in the top 25 since March 23.
Before the SEC Tournament begins, here are the latest NCAA Tournament bracket projections for Tennessee:
Tennessee baseball NCAA Tournament projections
Aria Gerson of the Tennessean projects Tennessee to land as the No. 2 seed (No. 28 overall) in the Chapel Hill Regional, hosted by No. 6 overall seed North Carolina. That regional would also include No. 3 seed East Carolina and No. 4 seed Saint Joseph’s.
Baseball America also projects the Vols to play in Chapel Hill as the No. 28 overall seed, with North Carolina ranked as the No. 5 overall seed. It projects that regional to also include East Carolina as the No. 3 seed with Holy Cross as the No. 4 seed.
D1Baseball was slightly higher on the Vols. On its Nerdcast podcast, it projected Tennessee as the No. 24 overall seed, which would land it as the No. 2 seed in a regional with a host nationally seeded 9-12.
Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament resume
Tennessee is currently ranked No. 28 in RPI, rising four spots since last week, and owns the No. 24 strength of schedule in the country.
The Vols are 12-10 in Quad 1 games, 2-3 in Quad 2, 4-4 in Quad 3 and 19-2 in Quad 4. Their 12 Quad 1 wins are tied for eighth-most in the country.
Tennessee ranks higher in Diamond Sports Ranking (DSR), a computer ranking system that was approved to be used by the selection committee as an additional resource to RPI. The Vols sit at No. 17 nationally with DSR’s No. 21 strength of schedule.
They have series wins against three projected regional hosts: Texas, Alabama and Mississippi State. Texas and Alabama are projected as top-eight national seeds.
Tennessee baseball NCAA Tournament history
The Vols haven’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and will earn their seventh straight bid this year. This will be their first appearance under Elander, who was promoted from his prior role of associate head coach after Tony Vitello left in October to manage the San Francisco Giants.
Tennessee hasn’t just made a habit of qualifying for the tournament; it’s also advanced to five straight super regionals and appeared in three of the past five College World Series (2021, 2023 and 2024). Just two seasons ago in 2024, the Vols were crowned national champions for the first time.
Last year, Tennessee advanced from the Knoxville Regional but was swept by Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional.
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball NCAA Tournament projections in 2026 bracket