Tennessee baseball is the last SEC East Champion ever. When the 2024 season begins next winter there will be no SEC East and SEC West. As the conference expands to 16 teams, they’re eliminating the current division format.
Tony Vitello and the Vols won three of the final four eastern division titles awarded with victories in 2021, 22 and now 24.
When Vitello arrived at Tennessee in 2018, the SEC East included two of the five best programs in the country in Florida and Vanderbilt as well as a South Carolina program that had won two National Championships in the prior 10 years.
While some programs have individual high points better than Tennessee— Vanderbilt winning the 2019 National Championship and Florida falling in the championship in 2023— Vitello’s teams have dominated on the field.
Tennessee has a winning record against every SEC East opponent under Vitello with its worst record coming against Georgia (10-8). In fact, the Vols have an incredibly impressive 71-41 record against divisional opponents under Vitello and a 24-12 record against in weekend series.
The stats become even more unfathomable when you take out Vitello’s first team. Starting in 2019, Tennessee is 65-29 against SEC East foes and 23-7 in individual series. Since 2019, Tennessee has swept SEC East opponents in nine of 30 total weekend series. They’ve been swept (Missouri 2023) just once.
It’s an incredible run of success and divisional dominance from Tennessee. One that was unthinkable when Vitello took the job.
Here’s the numbers of how Vitello’s Vols have fared against each SEC East team separately throughout his tenure and again from the 2019 season on.
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Florida
Overall record: 13-7
Series record: 4-2
Record since 2019: 12-5
Series record since 2019: 4-1
Georgia
Overall record: 10-8
Series record: 4-2
Record since 2019: 9-6
Series record since 2019: 4-1
Kentucky
Overall record: 13-6
Series record: 5-1
Record since 2019: 11-5
Series record since 2019: 4-1
Missouri
Overall record: 11-7
Series record: 3-3
Record since 2019: 10-5
Series record since 2019: 3-2
South Carolina
Overall record: 12-6
Series record: 5-1
Record since 2019: 12-3
Series record since 2019: 5-0
Vanderbilt
Overall record: 12-7
Series record: 3-3
Record since 2019: 11-5
Series record since 2019: 3-2
Overall
Overall record: 74-41
Series record: 24-12
Record since 2019: 65-29
Series record since 2019: 23-7
