Tennessee baseball's College World Series dreams start at Lindsey Nelson Stadium again.

The No. 1 Vols (50-11) open against No. 4 Northern Kentucky (35-22) in the Knoxville Regional on Friday (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network). No. 2 Southern Miss (41-18) and No. 3 Indiana (34-24-1) are on the opposite side of the bracket.

Here is what to know about the regional:

The Vols look like the nation's most complete team

Tennessee can hit and pitch and might be the best in the nation at both. It certainly has the best combination of hitting and pitching in the nation, which makes the Vols a threat to get to Omaha for the third time in four seasons.

UT leads the nation with 147 homers, is fourth in runs with 553, and No. 2 in slugging percentage at .600. The pitching staff ranks in the top-five nationally in ERA (3.83), WHIP (1.22) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.38).

The Vols proved their pitching depth in a five-game run to the SEC Tournament as players outside of the core staff stepped up.

Southern Miss is back in Tennessee's path − potentially

Southern Miss could be in Tennessee's way on the path to Omaha for the second straight season.

The Vols won a three-game Hattiesburg Super Regional last season to reach the College World Series, which also marked the end coach Scott Berry's impressive career. The Golden Eagles promoted assistant Christian Ostrander and the program kept rolling this season.

Southern Miss has won 14 of its past 15 games, including winning Sun Belt tournament title a dramatic 14-11 win against Georgia Southern on Sunday. USM also reached 40 wins for the eighth straight season, the longest active streak in Division I.

The Vols are not guaranteed a matchup with Southern Miss based on seeding.

What to know about Northern Kentucky, Indiana

Northern Kentucky is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time after winning the Horizon League Tournament to win an automatic bid. The Norse can hit the ball, ranking fifth in the nation in runs with 542 and fourth with a .436 on-base percentage. As well as the Norse hit, they struggle to pitch with a 7.37 ERA which ranks 244th nationally.

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Northern Kentucky’s Liam McFadden-Ackman was named Player of the Year in the Horizon League after hitting .362 with 21 homers and 76 RBIS. Northern Kentucky had five first-team all-league choices.

Indiana surged late in the season, winning six of its final seven regular-season series before rolling to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. The Hoosiers had a 6-9 record against Quad 1 teams and were 6-5-1 against Quad 2 teams. They swept Baylor for one of their most impressive weekends.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Will Tennessee baseball win its NCAA Tournament regional? Our prediction