No more curses of being the No. 1 overall seed in the College World Series.
Tennessee became the first overall No. 1 seed in 25 years to win the CWS, defeating No. 3 Texas A&M University 6-5 on Monday in Game 3 of the College World Series finals at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jim Morris’ Miami Hurricanes accomplished this in 1999.
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The historic night for Tennessee began with star second baseman Christian Moore hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning and featured Tennessee alumnus and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning embracing country music artist Morgan Wallen.
Tennessee, the SEC team to win the CWS for the fifth straight year, tacked on two more runs with small-ball in the third inning, on a sacrifice fly to center by Dylan Dreiling and a single to left by Dean Curley that sent home Blake Burke and Hunter Ensley, respectively.
Dreiling hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and Ensley scored on a Cavares Tears double to give the team a 6-1 lead.
Prior to Monday’s national championship, Tennessee’s best finish in the College World Series was a runner-up finish in 1951.
Here’s what you need to know about the history the Vols made in Monday’s College World Series.
How many times has the No. 1 overall seeded team won the CWS?
With Tennessee’s win over the Aggies on Monday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, the school became just the second team to win the College World Series as a No. 1 seed since 1999, the first year of the current CWS format. The only other team to win the CWS as a No. 1 seed was Miami in 1999.
Since 1999, including the Vols’ win on Monday, here’s how the overall No. 1 seed has performed in the College World Series.
The results are in parentheses
2024: Tennessee (CWS champion)2023: Wake Forest (CWS semifinal elimination)2022: Tennessee (Super Regional elimination)2021: Arkansas (Super Regional elimination)2020: Cancelled due to COVID-192019: UCLA (Super Regional elimination)2018: Florida (CWS semifinal elimination)2017: Oregon State (CWS semifinal elimination)2016: Florida (CWS first round elimination)2015: UCLA (regional elimination)2014: Oregon State (regional elimination)2013: North Carolina (CWS semifinal elimination)2012: Florida (CWS first round elimination)2011: Virginia (CWS semifinal elimination)2010: Arizona (CWS first round elimination) 1st round loss)2009: Texas (CWS Finals loss)2008: Miami (CWS 2nd round loss)2007: Vanderbilt (Regional loss)2006: Clemson (CWS 2nd round loss)2005: Tulane (CWS 2nd round loss)2004: Texas (CWS Finals loss)2003: Florida State (Super Regional loss)2002: Florida State (Super Regional loss)2001: Cal State Fullerton (CWS Semifinals loss)2000: South Carolina (Super Regional loss)1999 – Miami (CWS Champion)
CWS wins with No. 1 overall seed
Tennessee: 2024Miami: 1999
Tennessee joins the Miami Hurricanes in 1999 as the only two teams in NCAA Baseball Tournament and CWS history to win the College World Series as a No. 1 overall seed. Miami went on to an undefeated record in the 1999 CWS with wins over Rice, Alabama (twice) and Florida State.
In the College World Series, the Vols went 5-1 in Omaha, opening 2-0 for the first time in program history, miraculously upset No. 8 Florida State, 12-11, and then beat No. 4 North Carolina, 6-1.
The Vols defeated the Seminoles 7-2 in the semifinals to advance to the CWS Championship Series. After dropping Game 1 of the championship series 9-5, Tennessee won Games 2 and 3 by scores of 4-1 and 6-5, respectively.
