The Tennessee Volunteers embark on a new era in a matter of weeks, and with it comes a lot of uncertainty.

Beloved ex-coach Tony Vitello is now the skipper of the San Francisco Giants. Top Tennessee assistant coach Josh Elander was handed the reins by AD Danny White back in October, and the move was met with pure joy from the Tennessee players. That’s certainly a good sign for morale, but whether Elander can continue the Vols on the path they’ve been on since 2021 remains to be seen.

The media has had kind of ridden the fence when it comes to Tennessee, and understandably so. Baseball America and D1 Baseball both put out their top 25 preseason rankings. Tennessee came in at No. 13 in Baseball America and No. 14 in D1 Baseball.

That seems like kind of a fair spot, considering Tennessee had another heavy appearance in the MLB Draft last summer and is without national championship-winning Vitello.

However, DraftKings Sportsbooks has a bit more of a bullish stance on the Vols. They have Tennessee among their top national championship contenders based on the odds they have to win it all.

Tennessee Vols have seventh-best odds to win college baseball national championship on DraftKings Sportsbook

They’re not terribly far apart, the media and the DraftKings Sportsbook, but 13-14 range to seven is a decent difference.

As on Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook has Tennessee at +1900 to win it all. That’s tied with North Carolina for the seventh best odds. The Tar Heels have been perennial contenders, making it to Omaha in 2024 (where they lost to the Vols) and getting knocked out by Arizona in the Super Regionals last season.

The only teams ahead of the Tar Heels and Vols are LSU (+700), Arkansas (+1100), UCLA (+1200), Georgia (+1400), Texas (+1500), and Mississippi State (+1800).

The cupboard is certainly not bare for Tennessee to make a run. Far from it, actually. Rising star Levi Clark is back, and he’s joined by a number of new faces from the portal in Virginia infielder Henry Ford and Walters State slugger Tyler Myatt. The portal brought the Vols a number of notable pitching options in Rutgers’ Landon Mack and Virginia’s Evan Blanco, both of whom appear likely rotation candidates. ETSU’s Brady Frederick and Kennesaw State’s Bo Rhudy could be impact bullpen additions.

There’s a lot to like about this Vols team for 2026. We’ll find out soon enough who was closer to the mark on their championship chances — the oddsmaker or the writers.