Why No. 1 Tennessee baseball is away team vs No. 5 Mississippi State in SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. − Tennessee baseball is the away team against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday despite being the No. 1 seed.

The Vols are the away team against No. 5 seed Mississippi State at Hoover Met due to the SEC Tournament rules. The rules stipulate that “the team that has been the home team the least amount of games is the home team.”

Both Tennessee and Mississippi State have been the home team twice, so the first tiebreaker was applied, making MSU the home team because it played once as the away team during the SEC Tournament and the Vols had not yet been the away team. The first tiebreaker states the “team who has been the away team most is the home team.”

Tennessee was the home team against No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Texas A&M. Mississippi State was home against No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 8 Vanderbilt, but was the away team against No. 4 Texas A&M.

The winner of UT and MSU will advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The tournament returns to a single-elimination format Saturday.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.