Happy New Year: Looking at goals for Tennessee Volunteers sports in 2023

In 2022, Tennessee athletics put together one of its best years to date. The school earned multiple No. 1 rankings and won multiple SEC championships.

Now, Tennessee will turn the page to 2023 with the hopes of not only repeating its success but improving upon it.

Here are what the football, baseball and men's and women's basketball teams' goals should be for the upcoming year.

This goal may be the hardest to achieve in the entire list. However, it's unlikely not because of the Vols' ability, but because of the obstacles in their way.

For Tennessee to earn a bid to the SEC Championship, it will need to beat out Georgia for the SEC East title. This year, despite finishing second in the SEC, it missed out on a trip to Atlanta because of the division split.

Obviously, the most simple way for the Vols to earn this bid is to take care of business throughout the regular season — including a win over the Bulldogs. This year, Tennessee fell short in Athens in the highly anticipated matchup.

Next year, Georgia will be forced to visit Knoxville, which could possibly give the Vols a needed advantage. Both teams will play different quarterbacks than the previous matchup, with the Bulldogs' signal caller a bigger question mark than Tennessee's.

Even if the Vols do take down Georgia, it doesn't guarantee a spot in the title game, though. As always, Tennessee will play a gauntlet of an SEC schedule with crossover games against Alabama on the road and at home against Texas A&M. Tennessee will likely be forced to win in Athens and drop one or fewer games to achieve a spot at the top of East.

Despite the difficulty in achieving this goal, it is the natural next step for the program. In Year Two under Josh Heupel, the Vols beat Alabama and Florida, earned a New Year’s Six bowl win and achieved 11 wins. Even in the face of losing key players such as Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman, Darnell Wright, Jerome Carvin, Byron Young, Jeremy Banks and others, the team should still be a force in the SEC that has a real shot to play in Atlanta.

In 2022, the Vols' baseball team put together one of the most incredible regular season runs in college baseball history. They spent the majority of the season as the consensus No. 1 team en route to a 25-5 SEC record. This included sweeps over South Carolina, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Florida and Mississippi State. They also ran away with the SEC Tournament title.

Despite this historical run, Tennessee fell short in the NCAA Tournament. In the Super Regionals, the Vols ran out of steam against Notre Dame in a three-game series.

This disappointing finish left a sour taste in the baseball team's mouth. It will surely be a focus and source of motivation for Tony Vitello's team throughout the year.

However, similar to football, the team will look much different next year. 10 players from last year's roster got drafted in the MLB Draft and won't return to Knoxville. This includes stars such as Drew Gilbert, Jordan Beck, Blade Tidwell, Trey Lipscomb, Ben Joyce and Jorel Ortega.

A heap of talent returns and joins the Vols, as well. Chase Dollander, Chase Burns, Drew Beam, Camden Sewell and Maui Ahuna were all named Pre-Season All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.

If Tennessee is able to earn a spot in the College World Series, it won't come as a first. The school has made five appearances — including one as recent as 2021. With the standard Vitello has put in place, though, anything short of a trip to Omaha is a disappointment.

Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee men's basketball has been a staple as an SEC contender. This even included the school's first SEC Tournament title since 1979 in 2022.

However, what has consistently evaded the Vols throughout the school's history is NCAA Tournament success. Tennessee has made just a single Elite 8 and Barnes has earned a spot in the Sweet 16 just once. Even last year, after winning the SEC Tournament, the team fell to Michigan in the Round of 32.

This trend needs to be bucked in 2023. The Vols are already off to an impressive start to the season, holding an 11-2 overall and 1-0 SEC record, a ranking of No. 7 and a Battle 4 Atlantis championship.

Tennessee has achieved its successful start with key returners such as Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler and Olivier Nkamhoua and newcomers in Tyreke Key and Julian Phillips. The team hasn't been able to stay fully healthy but has still looked impressive heading into SEC play.

This regular season success ultimately doesn't mean much, though. Fans are getting tired of early tournament losses and are setting their sights on much loftier goals. A trip to the school's first Elite 8 since its lone appearance in 2010 could silence critics. The team is certainly good enough to reach this point, if not higher, but that hasn't stopped the Vols from falling short in the past.

Tennessee's most historically successful program is currently the weakest link among its four major sports. That doesn't mean that they haven't been successful, though. The other three teams are currently ranked in the top 10 while the Lady Vols' undesirable start leaves it just outside the top 25.

Tennessee has turned things around recently, though. It took No. 2 Stanford to the wire before opening up SEC play with a win over Florida. The Lady Vols will have to continue this positive play to reach the NCAA Tournament, but they have looked plenty capable of making that happen.

Last year, Tennessee started hot but cooled down as the season progressed. Despite their cold streak, the Lady Vols still won consecutive NCAA Tournament games en route to the school's first Sweet 16 since 2016 and the 35th in its history.

Reaching this point again is a realistic but satisfying goal for Tennessee. Kellie Harper has been building a solid program in her limited time as head coach and another appearance in the third round would further build a great foundation. The roster featuring Jordan Horston and Rickea Jackson is plenty good enough to make this happen, too.

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