Tennessee baseball is on the hunt for the program's first national championship.

The No. 1 seed Vols (55-12) are back in the College World Series for the third time in four years. They open against No. 8 seed Florida State (47-15) on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

Here is what to know about the Vols in the CWS:

The Vols (still) have the nation's most complete team

Tennessee enters the College World Series with the second-most home runs in a season in NCAA history with 173. It trails only LSU, which hit 188 in 1997. Three players have at least 20 homers led by second baseman Christian Moore with a program-record 32. Every regular starter has at least 10.

The Vols have five hitters ranked in the top-100 prospects for the 2024 MLB Draft, including top-30 prospects in Moore and third baseman Billy Amick.

It's safe to say the Vols hit the dang ball.

They match that with a pitching staff that has a top-five ERA of 3.83, while ranking second in strikeout-to-walk ratio and WHIP. It is a loaded roster with talent and has a lot of experience winning games. A plus for the Vols this time around: They have players who know what it looks like to play and win in Omaha. That wasn't the case in 2023 when there was little to no experience from the 2021 Vols, who also reached the CWS.

Tennessee is seeing a stud starting pitcher in Game 1 again

Tennessee has faced an elite starting pitcher in Game 1 in each of its past two trips to Omaha. That's the case again this time. The Vols will surely see Florida State ace Jamie Arnold on Friday. Arnold ranks third in the nation in strikeouts with 155 in 100⅔ innings. He is 11-3 with a 2.77 ERA. He has walked only 22 and allowed six homers.

Tennessee is 0-2 in College World Series opening games under coach Tony Vitello.

The Vols were shut out 6-0 against Virginia in the 2021 CWS. Cavaliers pitcher Andrew Abbott struck out 10 in six innings as Tennessee was shut out for the third time in 68 games that season. It ran into eventual No. 1 draft pick Paul Skenes against LSU in its opener in 2023. The Vols lost 6-3 as Skenes was dominant, allowing two runs on a walk and five hits with 12 strikeouts in 7⅔ innings.

Is the curse of the No. 1 overall seed real?

The current NCAA Tournament format was adopted in 1999. No. 1 overall seed Miami won the title that season, but the top seed hasn't won the national championship since.

ZANDER: Zander Sechrist was destined to pitch in Omaha. He got Tennessee baseball to College World Series

Tennessee earned the No. 1 national seed this season for the second time in three years. It did not reach the CWS in 2022 as the top seed but got to Omaha this season, where it will try to break the 25-year dry spell for a No. 1 seed.

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: Why Tennessee baseball will − and won't − win the College World Series