Tennessee's month-long skid ended in its fifth-straight series loss at Arkansas on Saturday, marking the end of a regular season that tapered off after a strong start.

The defending national champion Vols, who were the last remaining undefeated team in major college baseball in mid-March, won their first three SEC series before winning just one of their last seven and sliding in the rankings.

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Tennessee (41-15, 16-14 SEC) slid again in the post-regular season D1Baseball Top 25 on Monday, falling four spots to No. 21 as the SEC Tournament and rest of the postseason looms this week.

That tournament, set to begin Tuesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, will feature 10 teams ranked in the latest poll.

LSU remained at No. 1, followed by Texas (2), Arkansas (5), Auburn (8), Vanderbilt (9), Georgia (10), Florida (15), Ole Miss (17) and Alabama (23).

The Vols are the 8-seed in the SEC Tournament and will play the winner of 9-seed Alabama and 16-seed Missouri on Wednesday (10:30 a.m. ET, SEC Network).

Tennessee entered the final weekend of the regular season in need of a series win to bolster its chances of hosting a regional in the postseason.

Now, the Vols need a run in Hoover.

Tennessee is currently slated as the 2-seed in the Atlanta Regional with host and 16-national seed Georgia Tech, Arizona State and Columbia in D1Baseball’s latest Field of 64 projections.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Where Tennessee stands in D1Baseball Field of 64 projections

A Vols win in the second round of the SEC Tournament would set up a quarterfinal bout with 1-seed and the league’s regular season champion Texas on Thursday.

The tournament, which will include all 16 conference teams, is single elimination.

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