At the end of May 64 college baseball teams began a journey, with Omaha as their dream destination.
Now just two teams are left standing in Omaha, with dreams of NCAA baseball immortality alive.
The Men’s College World Series Finals begin on Saturday, with SEC rivals Tennessee and Texas A&M set to begin a best-of-three series to determine this season’s National Champion. When this tournament began the Volunteers and the Aggies were viewed as two of the top teams in the field, as the Aggies were the third-seeded team heading into the tournament, while the Volunteers were the top team in the field.
If history is to be our guide, the Aggies might be in a better position to win the Finals. Since the NCAA expanded to the current format the top-overall seed has won the Men’s College World Series just once, and that was Miami back in 1999, the first season with a 64-team field. More often than not the top seed comes up short, as the Volunteers did back in 2022 when they were the top-seeded team and did not even advance to Omaha.
As for teams seeded No. 3, like Texas A&M, they have won the Men’s College World Series three times. Most recently Oregon State won as a No. 3 seed back in 2018.
Ahead of the Finals getting underway, let’s take a look at each team’s path to this point, a statistical matchup between the two teams, revisit what happened the one time they played this season, and finish it off with a prediction sure to be wrong.
Tennessee’s path to the Finals
The Volunteers enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 58-12 overall record, and went 22-8 this season in SEC play.
The Volunteers have lost just once in the entire Men’s College World Series.
Knoxville Regional
Defeated Northern Kentucky, 9-3
Defeated Indiana 12-6
Defeated Southern Miss 12-3
Knoxville Super Regional
Defeated Evansville 11-6
Lost to Evansville 10-8
Defeated Evansville 12-1
Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round
Defeated Florida State 12-11
Defeated North Carolina 6-1
Defeated Florida State 7-2
Texas A&M’s path to the Finals
The Aggies enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 52-13 overall record, while they finished with a 19-11 record in SEC play.
They have yet to lose since the Men’s College World Series began.
Bryan-College Station Regional
Defeated Grambling 8-0
Defeated Texas 4-2
Defeated Louisiana 9-4
Bryan-College Station Super Regional
Defeated Oregon 10-6
Defeated Oregon 15-9
Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round
Defeated Florida 3-2
Defeated Kentucky 5-1
Defeated Florida 6-0
Men’s College World Series Final schedule
Saturday, June 22
- Game 1: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+
Sunday, June 23
- Game 2: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 2:00 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+
Monday, June 24
- Game 3 (if necessary): Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+
Statistical matchup
Here is how these two teams matchup in a number of key statistics, provided by both D1Baseball.com and NCAA.com:
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25499956/Screenshot_2024_06_20_at_8.40.28_PM.png "How Texas A&M and Tennessee got to the Men’s College World Series Finals and a prediction (1)")
Head-to-head
These teams have met just once this season, back in SEC Tournament play.
In that game, back on May 23, the Aggies took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run from leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac in the third inning. But the Volunteers chipped away over the next few innings, tying the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Dylan Dreiling. They took the lead in the fourth on a Fielder’s Choice off the bat of Christian Moore, with Dean Curley scoring from third.
In the bottom of the fifth a double from Kavares Tears brought Dreiling around to score, giving the Volunteers a 3-1 lead. Texas A&M cut that lead to just one with a solo shot off the bat of catcher Jackson Appell in the sixth.
Tears came through again for Tennessee in the seventh, with a three-run blast to left pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 6-2. The teams traded runs in the eighth, and Grahovac added another run for the Aggies in the ninth on a solo shot, but it was not enough as the Volunteers advanced by the final score of 7-4.
A prediction sure to be wrong
What is a preview piece without a prediction that is sure to be wrong?
As the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting. As you can see above, the Aggies have a solid staff to call on for this series, and that staff is rested and ready to go.
But the college game is a bit different these days. Watching the entire Men’s College World Series this year, you get the sense that today’s game is about what you can do at the plate. While both teams have potent lineups, Tennessee does have an advantage at the dish.
This is likely a series that goes the entire three games, and when all is said and done, the Volunteers will take home the title.
