ESPN predicts how far the Tennessee Vols will advance in the NCAA Tournament
The Tennessee Vols are officially a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after the bracket was revealed on Sunday evening. Tennessee, which will take on Wofford in the first round, has a draw that's ripe with great storylines. If the Volunteers advance past the first round, they could potentially take on the UCLA Bruins […]
The Tennessee Vols are officially a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after the bracket was revealed on Sunday evening.
Tennessee, which will take on Wofford in the first round, has a draw that's ripe with great storylines.
If the Volunteers advance past the first round, they could potentially take on the UCLA Bruins in the second round. UCLA is the program that nearly swiped head coach Rick Barnes from Tennessee back in 2019.
Tennessee could also potentially play the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16.
Shortly after the bracket was revealed, ESPN's Jeff Borzello took a shot at predicting how the NCAA Tournament will play out.
Borzello has Tennessee advancing to the Elite Eight and losing to the Houston Cougars with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
From ESPN: Tennessee's elite defense will be tested by either Illinois or Kentucky in the Sweet 16, although the Vols already played both teams (and got swept by the Wildcats). Without Jaxson Robinson and a healthy Lamont Butler, though, I have Mark Pope's team going out to Illinois in the second round.
Which version of Illinois will show up: the one that won at Michigan by 20 in early March, or the one that lost by 43 to Duke and by 23 to Maryland in the past few weeks? If it's the former, the Illini have a shot to beat Tennessee — but it's hard to trust the inconsistency.
In what should be a war of attrition in the Elite Eight, Houston's superior firepower should get the Cougars past Tennessee and into the Final Four.
Borzello, by the way, has the Florida Gators beating the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game.
