The Tennessee Vols will open NCAA Tournament play on Thursday at 1:45 CT/2:45 ET with a matchup against Longwood.

Tennessee is a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, despite winning the SEC Tournament and finishing the season with no Quad 2 or Quad 3 losses.

On Monday, college basketball analyst Jay Bilas predicted the outcome of every game in the tourney.

Bilas has the Vols beating Longwood to advance to the second round for a matchup against Michigan. That would be a rematch of Tennessee's Sweet 16 loss to the Wolverines in 2014.

This time around, Bilas thinks the Vols beat Michigan.

"Tennessee is on a roll and has true believers," wrote Bilas. "While the Vols can get stuck offensively at times, their lineup versatility and defensive toughness will carry them to the Sweet 16."

Bilas has the Volunteers then playing Villanova in the Sweet 16.

And that's where he has Tennessee's tournament run ending.

"This has a chance to be a classic but Villanova's veteran group, led by Gillespie, has the slight edge in a game of this magnitude over Tennessee and its talented freshman Chandler," wrote Bilas.

The Vols lost to Villanova 71-53 in a neutral court game this past November.

Tennessee, however, is a completely different team now than they were in November. I think this matchup would be much closer this time around.

Of course, the Vols have to get there first (and so does Villanova). Tennessee needs to take it one game at a time. It's March. Anything can (and will) happen.

Featured image via Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports