When you have two legitimate Top 20 teams testing each other, it’s never inevitable.
Tennessee
Tennessee Set For Evening Time Slot in College World Series Opener | Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee baseball and head coach Tony Vitello have the evening time slot on Friday night for their opening game in the 2024 Men’s College World Series.
No. 1 Tennessee will take on No. 8 Florida State at 7:00 p.m. ET from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Vols and the Seminoles will be the second game on Friday as No. 4 North Carolina and No. 12 Virginia kick off the College World Series at 2:00 p.m. ET.
No. 2 Kentucky will take on the winner of Monday night’s contest between No. 7 Georgia and No. 10 NC State at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday while No. 3 Texas A&M and Florida square off at 7:00 p.m. ET that same night.
All four games will be broadcast on ESPN.
As you might be able to tell, the 2024 Men’s College World Series ended up being a version of an SEC-ACC Invitational.
If Tennessee Wins Game 1
If Tennessee defeats Florida State in their opening game, the Vols will move on to Game 6 on Sunday, June 16, to take on the winner of the North Carolina-Virginia game.
Game 6 is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be televised on ESPN.
If Tennessee Loses Game 1
If Florida State defeats Tennessee, the Vols will then move to Game 5 in an elimination game against the loser of North Carolina-Virginia.
Game 5 is slated for 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be televised on ESPN.
More from RTI: The Top Clips From Tony Vitello’s Fiery Postgame Promo
PRIMETIME VOLS
Our @NCAABaseball College World Series opener vs. Florida State will take place on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on ESPN!#GBO // #OTH // #OmaVols pic.twitter.com/7cBKtKrHsK
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) June 10, 2024
College World Series Schedule – Bracket 1
June 14
- Game 1 – No. 4 North Carolina vs No. 12 Virginia – 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 2 – No. 1 Tennessee vs No. 8 Florida State – 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
June 16
- Game 5 – Loser of G1 vs Loser of G2 – 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 6 – Winner of G1 vs Winner of G2 – 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
June 18
- Game 9 – Winner of G5 vs Loser of G6 – 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
June 19
- Game 11 – Winner of G6 vs Winner of G9 – 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
June 20 (If Necessary – Loser G11 is First Loss)
- Bracket 1 If Necessary – TBD
Men’s College World Series
Game 1 – Saturday, June 22 – 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 2 – Sunday, June 23 – 2 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 3 (If Necessary) – Monday, June 24 – 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
To see the full 2024 Men’s College World Series bracket, click here.
Tennessee
Tennessee football QB Jake Merklinger plans to enter transfer portal
Tennessee quarterback Jake Merklinger plans to enter the transfer portal, Knox News has confirmed.
On3.com and Rivals.com were the first to report Merklinger’s decision. The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2.
Merklinger has also opted out of the Music City Bowl. No. 23 Tennessee (8-4) plays Illinois (8-4) on Dec. 30 (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Nashville. Starter Joey Aguilar will play in the bowl game, so Merklinger was not expected to be a factor. Freshman George MacIntyre will serve as the backup.
Merklinger spent two seasons at Tennessee but barely played and failed to win the starting job. He played six games and went 19-of-33 passing for 221 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2024, Merklinger was a third-string freshman when Nico Iamaleava started. In 2025, he competed for the starting job but lost to transfer Joey Aguilar.
By the end of the 2025 season, Merklinger was neck and neck with freshman George MacIntyre for the backup job. And it didn’t appear that Merklinger would factor in the starting job in 2026.
Merklinger, a native of Savannah, Georgia, was a four-star recruit in the 2024 class. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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Tennessee
Seedy K’s GameCap: Tennessee
But this U of L task in Knoxville against tall favorite Tennessee sure seemed close to that heading in.
Well coached top level foe at its sold out home.
One whose strength — inside scoring and rebounding — made it a bad matchup for the Cards, whose lack of inside depth and strength has been an Achilles heel from the get go.
That the Vols were hungry and angry coming off three straight Ls made a U of L victory seem an almost impossible task.
Then we learned that back issue of Mikel Brown’s is a problem.
Cards were toast before tip.
It was all evident by halftime — actually well before then.
It just takes a peek at a couple statistics.
Tennessee led by only 7, thanks to some tough Cardinal D. And UT’s woeful FT shooting.
That inside game issue: Volunteers 28 points in the paint. Cardinals 10.
That’s right, Tennessee had more points in the paint at the break than Louisville had points total.
That lack of point guard issue: U of L had 9 FGs at intermission. Tennessee had that many assists on 15 buckets.
Louisville’s strength is depth. At least usually.
During the first 20 Tuesday, the Cards had zero points off the pine. Vols 22. (For the game, the disparity was 34-3. Khani Rooths hit a FT. Wild Man Zougris a garbage time slam.)
Another opening stanza reality that might have you feeling the need to clean your glasses.
Only three guys scored. Adrian Wooley with 12, Ryan Conwell with 11, and Sananda Fru with 4.
Louisville’s second half performance is not worth the bandwidth, my time to write about, nor your time to read.
The final, in a lopsided disappointing loss: 83-62.
There is no sugar frosting this. Against teams with major size and inside presence, Louisville has and will continue to struggle.
When your most talented player doesn’t suit up, it makes it more impossible to overcome.
Tennessee
A look at new laws proposed in Tennessee
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