The Tennessee Volunteers were going for a very unlikely sweep of the No. 4 Texas Longhorns on Sunday afternoon in Knoxville.
Well, let’s just say it didn’t happen and leave it at that. The Longhorns teed off on Tennessee pitching on the way to a 13-6 win to avoid the sweep. Reese Chapman slugged a grand slam to right that just cleared the wall near the bullpen, and Texas would push a big lead out late in the game after the Vols hung around through the middle innings.
So, the bigger question is, where
do things stand now for Tennessee in the SEC and NCAA Tournament races?
Well, we can quantify the first category. Tennessee had a chance to move up to over .500 in SEC play, but, again, that’s basically mission impossible this year. As it stands now, Tennessee is 34-18 overall and 13-14 in SEC play. That puts them currently in a tie for 10th with Oklahoma, who, ironically, the Vols play this weekend on the road to close the regular season. Kentucky now sits a game back of Tennessee after losing two of three in Gainesville this weekend.
As far as the big dance, we’ll see what the projections show this week, but Tennessee clearly should be back up on the 2 seed line and all but chalk to make the tournament unless they lose out until Selection Monday. Seems unlikely, but you might want to knock on wood anyways.
The Vols and Sooners get their series underway on Thursday night in Norman.
