The Tennessee athletic department will have some tricky decisions to make for the upcoming year

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica discusses how the Tennessee Volunteers athletic department will need to make some tricky decisions when allocating funds after a successful year of sports

Transcript

00:00The 2024-25 sports year for the University of Tennessee is officially over, and it was one of

00:06the absolute best in the history of Tennessee's athletic department. But that comes at a very

00:11interesting time with the current state of college athletics. We'll explain next.

00:18Hey, Lucas Panzeke here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports. So Tennessee baseball season

00:24officially came to an end on Sunday with an 11-4 loss to Arkansas in the Fayetteville

00:29Super Regional. The Vols' national title defense is over as they were one of the 16 teams left

00:36standing, swept by Arkansas in the Fayetteville Super Regional as Arkansas heads to Omaha and

00:41the Vols head home. And that brings to an end the 2024-25 academic sports year, so to speak,

00:49for the Tennessee Volunteers. And to be quite honest, it was one of the absolute best in terms

00:55of that balance across the board with the athletics department that we have ever seen

01:00at the University of Tennessee. Considering the major sports here, going back to the fall,

01:05of course, Josh Heupel leading Tennessee to a 10-win season in the first ever 12-team college

01:11football playoff. Rick Barnes leading Tennessee men's basketball to yet another Elite Eight

01:16appearance. Kim Caldwell in her first year in charge of Tennessee women's basketball,

01:21making it to the Sweet 16. And then on the diamond, both men's and women's Tennessee softball

01:26got to the Women's College World Series for the ninth time in program history and made it all the

01:31way to the national semifinal, falling to eventual national champions Texas in the final four. And

01:37then, of course, Tennessee baseball did end up hosting a regional in Knoxville, won that regional,

01:42but lost, like we said, to Arkansas, losing games one and two in the Fayetteville Super Regional.

01:48So things are good right now on Rocky Top. Just about every major sport is in a very good place.

01:54That comes at a very interesting time because finally, the long-anticipated house settlement

02:00approval has finally happened from Judge Claudia Wilkin, which means officially starting on July 1st,

02:07revenue sharing is coming to college athletics. As you've probably heard a million times by now,

02:13that means that universities will have the right to opt in and spend up to about $20 million

02:20directly to its own student athletes. This does not mean that NIL is going away. Certain parameters

02:26around NIL will be shifted around, but largely universities can pay players directly. Now,

02:32how Tennessee goes about divvying up those funds across the board for its multiple successful

02:39sports on campus, that's yet to be seen. And it's a tricky proposition for Danny White and Tennessee

02:46athletics. Now, the reality is the Vols will likely do it based on revenue, which of course would mean

02:51football gets the largest percentage of the funds from revenue sharing. But as baseball continues to

02:58improve, Tony Vitello is not going anywhere. And Tennessee baseball is a powerhouse. They might

03:03have fallen short of Omaha this year, but they're the defending national champs. And no other program

03:07has gone five straight years to make a super regional. And recruiting continues to be at an all-time

03:13high for this program under Tony V. Softball is not going anywhere. Karen Weakley has established

03:18one of the most consistent programs in all of college softball. Rick Barnes does not look like he's

03:24anywhere close to retiring for Tennessee men's basketball. Kim Caldwell is just getting started.

03:29And as we know, football is the engine that drives the train. And Josh Heupel is looking to get Tennessee

03:34back to those championship heights. So every sport right now is full steam ahead. And revenue may be the

03:41thing that ultimately divvies up revenue sharing in terms of which sport gets what. But Tennessee

03:49athletics is as good as it has ever been. But that comes at the most confusing time that we have ever

03:54been in in the history of college athletics.

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