Tennessee's Tony Vitello Should Know That The Great Skip Bertman Struggled In Omaha, Too

Make no mistake about it. Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello overreacted to a fair and timely question last Saturday, then deflected and went off on a series of tangents as if blown by the winds of Omaha.

Vitello and his No. 1 overall seeded Volunteers still made it back to Omaha, Nebraska, for the second straight year to play in the College World Series, which has proven to be an Albatross around Rocky Top's collective neck. As good as Tennessee has been in baseball over the years, the Vols have never won a national title in baseball. There was a runner-up finish in 1951, but they haven't even smelled a title bracket since, with their best mark 2-2 through five trips. Vitello is in Omaha for the third time as Tennessee's coach.

Tennessee (55-12) plays No. 8 seed Florida State (47-15) at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN. No. 4 seed North Carolina (47-14) and Virginia (46-15) were scheduled to open the CWS at Charles Schwab Field at 2 p.m. on ESPN.

The Vols were also the overall No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament field was announced two years ago. But one of the greatest regular season teams in college baseball history - 53-7 upon winning the SEC Tournament after coasting to the SEC regular season title at 25-5 - choked in the best-of-three Super Regional to lightly regarded Notre Dame.

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello and players argue a call during the Vols' Super Regional series loss to Notre Dame in 2022 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville. (Getty Images)

Vitello won't admit it, but he and his program still carry that around like a bad limp, even though the Vols reached Omaha last year before another early elimination in three games. So when Tennessee found itself in another do-or-die Super Regional final against very lightly