The Tennessee Vols will play one of their biggest games of the season on Saturday afternoon when they take on the No. 3 Auburn Tigers in Knoxville.

Tennessee is 19-7 and a virtual lock to reach the NCAA Tournament, so this isn't a "must-win game" for the Volunteers. But a win could definitely make Tennessee's NCAA Tournament path a lot easier.

Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, who coached the Vols from 2005-2011, had a strong take this week on this year's Vols basketball team.

Pearl compared this year's Vols team to the 2018-19 UT team that went 31-6 and finished the season ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25.

"I think this is one of the better Tennessee teams we’ve seen since 2019, which I think was the best team we had seen since I’ve been at Auburn," said Pearl this week.

"This (current) team here, I think, is equally as good," added Pearl. "The difference in this year’s team is it’s actually better defensively. They turn you over, they steal the ball from you. They put a lot of pressure on you. They fly around. This is one of Rick’s better defensive teams."

“Tennessee, the last thing would be they play as hard and physically as anybody in our league. So it will be a great challenge for us. Championship caliber team.”

Pearl noted that Tennessee's 2019 team, which lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue, was a Final Four caliber team. And he thinks this year's team is equally capable of making a Final Four run.

"I just go back, 2019, when Tennessee was right there as one of the very best teams in the country," explained Pearl. "I felt like us, Tennessee and Kentucky, the year we got to the Final Four, we were three teams that could have all gotten to the Final Four."

"They put Kentucky and us in the same region. And Tennessee lost a heartbreaker to Purdue, and then I think Virginia upset Purdue if I’m right. So we’ve seen Final Four-caliber Tennessee teams before. This is certainly, I think, one of them."

The Vols will unquestionably have their hands full this weekend with an extremely talented Auburn team. But we've seen the Tigers falter a few times on the road this year, falling to Florida and Arkansas and nearly losing to a not-very-good Georgia team.

This isn't a make-or-break game for Tennessee. But it could certainly be a big statement game as the Vols prepare for March Madness.

Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel/Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports