Tennessee baseball is unanimous No. 1 team after sweeping Ole Miss
Tennessee baseball is the nation's unanimous No. 1 team, claiming the top spot in the five major polls Monday.
The Vols (23-1, 6-0 SEC) rose to the top spot in the D1 Baseball, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper polls after their sweep at former No. 1 Ole Miss. They also received 30 of 31 first-place votes in the USA TODAY coaches poll, handily claiming the top spot.
UT already was ranked No. 1 by Perfect Game entering the series against the Rebels.
“It is one of those things, you work to be the best team in the country," closer Redmond Walsh said Sunday. "But it is just a number next to it. Until you are a No. 1 at the end of the season, in our eyes, it doesn’t matter.”
UT already was ranked No. 1 by Perfect Game entering the series against the Rebels.
Tennessee crushed Ole Miss 12-1 and 10-3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, to win the series in Oxford. It completed the sweep with a 4-3 win Sunday. Tennessee's 6-0 start to SEC play is its best since it started 8-0 in 1966.
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The Vols play at Vanderbilt (19-4, 4-2) in a three-game weekend series starting Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
"The timing of the No. 1 doesn’t mean nothing to us," catcher Evan Russell said. "I think we have a bigger goal in mind. I know the fans, they enjoy seeing the No. 1. We play Vanderbilt this week. It doesn’t matter if we play No. 1 Vanderbilt or the No. 10 Vanderbilt, we are going to play Vanderbilt.”
This story will be updated.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee baseball is ranked No. 1 after sweeping Ole Miss
