Tennessee stadium to undergo $95.8 million worth of upgrades after Volunteers' incredible College World Series milestone in 2024
The Tennessee Volunteers won their first College World Series on Monday night, and if that wasn't exciting enough, there has been more news coming out of the program. Front Office Sports reported that UT's Lindsey Nelson Stadium is set to undergo a $95.8 million upgrade. As a result, it will become "one of the most intimidating environments in college baseball."
Some of the upgrades that are featured are the seating capacity being increased to 7,600 and new premium seating options. A way the stadium will accommodate that is by adding a third level of porches inside the stadium. In addition, with the increased population inside the stadium, there will be wider concourses to navigate the stadium.
Can the Tennessee Volunteers repeat as the College World Series champions?
The Tennessee Volunteers have a lot of excitement after winning their first College World Series, and they have some incredible talent remaining with the program as well. The program only had two seniors: catcher Cal Stark and starting pitcher Zander Sechrist. Outside of that, there are some significant players also eligible for the 2024 MLB draft.
Here's a list of Vols who are eligible for the draft:
- Christan Moore
- Alex Perry
- Bradke Lohry
- Billy Amick
- Robin Villeneuve
- AJ Causey
- Blake Burke
- Drew Beam
- Ethan Payne
- Chris Stamos
- Kirby Connell
- Cal Stark
- Zander Sechrist
While not every one of those players is leaving the Tennessee Volunteers, there is a chance many top names will. That would be difficult for coach Tony Vitello as listed among those names are the program's most significant pitchers: Causey, Beam and Sechrist.
The NCAA transfer portal continues to open up as players search for new teams, and the defending College World Series champions should be a top destination. It is going to be a tough path for the Vols to win it all for a second consecutive year, but no team matches them on paper or on the field, so they should be the favorites.