The current projection for Tennessee Vols baseball in the NCAA Tournament

It's hard to believe but the 2024 regular season for college baseball is almost over.

The Tennessee Vols will play their final regular-season series of the year this weekend when they host the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Tennessee is currently one game behind the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC East standings. That means the Vols need to sweep South Carolina and hope that Kentucky drops at least a game to the Vanderbilt Commodores in Lexington this weekend (or the Vols need to win two of three and hope that Kentucky loses two of three).

The Vols own the tiebreaker over the Wildcats by virtue of their series-win against Kentucky earlier this season.

With the regular season ending this weekend, it means that the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament are on deck.

For now, the Vols are projected by On3 to host an NCAA Tournament regional that includes Southern Mississippi, Illinois, and Austin Peay.

Tennessee has recent history against all three of those teams.

The Vols beat Southern Mississippi in the Hattiesburg regional last year, taking two out of three games against the Golden Eagles to advance to Omaha.

Tennessee also played Austin Peay last season, winning a midweek matchup 9-4 last May.

Earlier this season, the Vols swept Illinois in Knoxville, outscoring the Fighting Illini 38-7 in a three game series.

Tennessee, regardless of what happens in the series against South Carolina or the SEC Tournament, should be locked into hosting a regional.

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