Tennessee's Tuesday Made an Arkansas Wednesday Shine a Bit Brighter

Until Van Horn finally gets title, Razorback fans will continue to celebrate Vitello losses

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Jun 22, 2023 12:28 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 22, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – With LSU notching a win over Wake Forest Wednesday evening and Florida having already secured a spot in the national championship game, the SEC has again extended its streak of consecutive College World Series finals since Coastal Carolina and Arizona played in 2016, and is in good position to come home with another title.

For the record, if that happens, there will have only been one non-SEC champion since Coastal won it seven years ago. Three guesses which team literally dropped the ball in the middle of that SEC run of dominance and the first two don't count.

While the sting of that loss to Oregon State still echoes across time for Razorback fans, and it was a bit jarring to have the door slammed shut so hard by TCU in the regional this season after battling through so many obstacles all year long, there's one thing Arkansas fans couldn't have overcome – a Tennessee national championship.

Mississippi State won the championship that should have been the Razorbacks' in 2021 and Ole Miss somehow came away with the Hogs' title last season, but those are pills that can be swallowed. Not easily, but Arkansas fans have managed.

For only the second time in the past five years, it hasn't felt like the Razorbacks should have been champions. However, had that feeling been coupled with a title coming to Knoxville, it would have been more than Arkansas fans could have withstood.

It's not so much about the Volunteers themselves. Had Tennessee beaten Florida or LSU in 2017 in the finals of the College World Series, it would have been perfectly fine. However, as soon as Tony Vitello was hired, the Vols were moved into a one team line of schools not allowed to win a national championship.

At least not until Dave Van Horn gets a team that calls each other off and makes the play when the last out is on the line. Should that team never arrive, should Van Horn have missed his moment the second the ball hit the turf in foul territory in Omaha in 2018, then Tennessee can't win a championship so long as Vitello is the head coach there. It just wouldn't be right.

That's why when LSU shut out Tennessee 5-0 this past Tuesday, it was the only game most Arkansas fans paid attention to in the College World Series. It was the only game that mattered. Prior to that, once the third inning rolled around in the elimination game against TCU, most Razorback fans shut off college baseball and never looked back.

For most, the LSU game didn't warrant actually watching the Volunteers lose. College baseball was just too painful to watch. But that didn't stop Razorback fans from checking up on the score and having a moment of celebration once things went final.

Normally, an assistant coaching leaving Arkansas to be a head coach at another school isn't a big deal, but something about Vitello since he left has rubbed Razorback fans the wrong way. Wednesday was just a little better for them as a result, even if some didn't remember exactly why the world felt just a tad brighter the following day.

A certain level of balance was restored to the world. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks worked the transfer portal at a time that usually isn't an option for so much focus and came away major offseason winners.

For Arkansas, magic seasons come in years that end in a four every 30 years. In 1964, the football team went undefeated. In 1994, the basketball team won a national championship, and there's all the hope in the world that baseball finally brings Van Horn a much deserved national title on the diamond in 2024.

Only then will it be OK for Tennessee to follow suit. Until then, the Volunteers will have to settle for being the only SEC team Arkansas fans wish failure upon in the College World Series when it doesn't involve a game against the Razorbacks.