KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Baseball will not host an NCAA Tournament Super Regional.
On Tuesday, the NCAA chose Hattiesburg as the host site as the Vols get ready to play Southern Mississippi this weekend. Both teams were two seeds coming out of their Regionals. Usually the higher seed hosts, but with both teams having the same seed the selection committee had to choose which team would host.
The NCAA responded to WBIR's request for reasons why the selection committee picked Southern Mississippi over Tennessee.
The organization responded Southern Miss and Tennessee both met the minimum guidelines in their respective bid proposals submitted before the championship began. In situations where a super regional matchup is between equally seeded teams, the DI Baseball Committee reviews hosting proposals submitted by each school. The committee decision is based on site selection criteria, including factors such as quality and availability of the facility, revenue potential, and attendance potential.
Tennessee advanced out of the Clemson Regional after topping Charlotte, the national four seed Clemson in a 14-inning thriller, and then beating Charlotte again this past weekend. The Vols are 41-19 overall coming into this Super Regional series.
Southern Mississippi advanced out of the Auburn Regional after losing their opening game to Samford, then beating national 13-seed Auburn, then beating Samford and Penn twice. The Golden Eagles are 45-18 on the season.
UT and Southern Mississippi's series starts on Saturday as the Vols hit the road. Game one will be at 3 p.m. and televised on ESPNU.
Southern Mississippi announced they do not anticipate selling tickets to the general public. They sent a statement to WBIR on why.
"Our stadium was sold out for the entire season as we averaged 5,276 a game," Southern Mississippi Assistant Athletic Director /Communications Jack Dugan said, "Other than the allotment that the NCAA requires us to make available for Tennessee (600 tickets) and 100 tickets that are to be sold to the general public. we do not anticipate any additional available tickets outside of our season ticket holders."
Tennessee gave WBIR a statement that those 600 tickets will go to team/player guests. Leftovers go to season ticket holders who request.
