What a Year for Tennessee Athletics
By Mark Nagi
Well, it’s summertime. Maybe not officially, but when there is very little going on in terms of sports, summer has arrived.
We have now hit the official end of Tennessee athletics for the 2024-2025 school year. And when you look back, you realize that things continue to be trending in the right direction.
Let’s start with the team that drives the athletic department engine. Tennessee’s football team won 10 games, including all six contests played at Neyland Stadium. In fact, the Vols have only lost one home game since the start of the 2022 season.
In 2024, the Vols beat two of their three biggest rivals. Considering their futility against Florida and Alabama over the last couple of decades, those wins should never be understated.
The Vols also earned a spot in the College Football Playoff, making this arguably Tennessee’s best football season since 1998. Granted, they got their doors blown off by Ohio State, the eventual National Champions. But they now have a 30-9 record over the past three seasons, which proves that they are no longer an afterthought in the SEC.
On the basketball front, Tennessee’s men’s and women’s teams are making a case for being one of the best duos in the nation. Rick Barnes might be an old dog, but he’s learned new tricks. His use of the transfer portal and NIL has allowed him to reload, keeping the Vols in the mix for SEC titles and that elusive trip to the Final Four.
This past season, the Vols went 30-8, including a memorable buzzer-beating win over rival Alabama, and a Sweet 16 shellacking of rival Kentucky in the biggest game ever played between the Vols and the Wildcats. They made it to the Elite 8 for the second straight year.
As for the Lady Vols basketball team, Kim Caldwell’s first season was a success. Tennessee went 24-10, including a win over rival UConn for the first time in four tries. Their upset win over Ohio State in Columbus moved UT into the Sweet 16 for the 37th time in program history. The future looks bright for the Lady Vols, who brought in the No. 2 signing class in the country.
The stick and ball sports also had their share of big moments. Tennessee’s baseball team didn’t reach the heights of 2024’s national championship squad, but still went 46-19. They were the rare team that followed up a Men’s College World Series victory with a Super Regional appearance, the Vols’ fifth in a row.
The Lady Vols softball team made it all the way to the Women’s College World Series semifinals, shaking off an all-time bad break to beat UCLA in an elimination game (look up “Appendix G” if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Record-setting pitcher Karlyn Pickens will be back for her senior season, so Tennessee should be in the mix for SEC titles and a return trip to Oklahoma City.
Those are the big five sports, but Tennessee has also had a lot to write home about in the sports that don’t get as much attention. The women’s rowing team finished fifth in the country. The men’s tennis team got to the Super Regionals while the women’s tennis team advanced to the national quarterfinals. Tennessee’s men’s swimming and diving team earned its best finish at the NCAA championships since 2001 as it placed fifth. The women’s swimming and diving squad finished fifth nationally as well.
All twenty Vols and Lady Vols teams advanced to the postseason.
When people talk about the golden age of Tennessee athletics, they often refer to the 1990s.
The golden age is right now.
