Tennessee Vols head coach Tony Vitello is viewed as a "villain" in college baseball, and it's easily one of the biggest mischaracterizations in sports. Vitello coaches with passion, energy, and fiery competitiveness -- which can rub fans of opposing teams the wrong way.

Tennessee, much like the entire second half of this baseball season, just couldn’t quite put the pieces together this weekend in Fayetteville. The Volunteers dropped a must-win game No. 2 on Sunday afternoon as Arkansas got to Liam Doyle early on and never let up.

For the first time since 2022, Tennessee is not headed to the College World Series. It was matched up with SEC-foe Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional, where it fell in two games by scores of 4-3 and 11-4.