Tennessee Vols check the boxes for 4 of the 5 rules for teams that can win the NCAA Tournament
Based on recent trends, there are five boxes that a college basketball program needs to check to win the NCAA Tournament and the Tennessee Vols almost check all five boxes. According to Draft Kings, here are the five "rules" that dictate whether a team can win the NCAA Tournament. Rule 1: No team west of […]
Based on recent trends, there are five boxes that a college basketball program needs to check to win the NCAA Tournament and the Tennessee Vols almost check all five boxes.
According to Draft Kings, here are the five "rules" that dictate whether a team can win the NCAA Tournament.
Rule 1: No team west of Texas has won the tournament since 1997 (eliminates 13 teams).
Rule 2: No seed higher than No. 8 has reached the national championship game (eliminates 29 teams).
Rule 3: The last 20 champions have been ranked in the top 12 of the Week 6 poll (eliminates 16 teams).
Rule 4: 19 of the last 22 champions have been top 20 in adjusted offense and top 40 in adjust defense in KenPom ratings (eliminates 4 teams).
Rule 5: 21 of the last 22 champs have been either UConn or top 3 in KenPom (eliminates 4 teams).
The two teams left standing after those five rules are the Duke Blue Devils and the Florida Gators.
Tennessee checks every box except the last one (the Vols are No. 5 in KenPom ratings).
Now, obviously these "rules" won't have any impact on who actually wins the NCAA Tournament. But they're still a pretty good indicator of which teams are a legitimate threat to win it all. And while the Volunteers weren't one of the final two teams listed by Draft Kings, they weren't far away.
The road to San Antonio won't be easy, but the Volunteers absolutely have what it takes to reach the Final Four for the first time in program history.
