Rece Davis explains why he is 'not a believer' in Tennessee

The Tennessee Volunteers haven’t done enough to convince ESPN’s Rece Davis that they can compete for a national title over the next couple of weeks.

During an appearance on Another Dooley Noted Podcast, the ESPN College GameDay analyst joined Pat Dooley to dish on the best of the best in college basketball. While Davis believes there’s a bevy of teams that can stand tall at the end of the season from the SEC, he thinks Tennessee’s offense will have them a step below their competition.

“I’m not a believer in Tennessee,” Davis proclaimed. “I think they’re a terrific team, but I just wouldn’t take them to win the national championship. I feel like, somewhere along the line, they’re going to have a really poor offensive performance. It’s too hard for them to score sometimes. Now, Chaz Lanier went off last weekend, and he’s dangerous, and the Zakai Zeigler is a terrific player, but it just seems like they have too many offensive lulls, and that bothers me about them a little bit, in terms of that.

“Now, could they, could they go on a Sweet 16 run? Of course they could. I mean, they’re talented and they’re very well coached, and they play great defense. But, you know, I would take the field mostly, because it would include those other [SEC] teams.”

Of course, Davis’ testimony may come as a surprise to some. Tennessee is 23-5 on the season, and ranked No. 5 in the entire country in the latest AP Poll. They’re currently on a three-game winning-streak, and that includes a victory over fellow top SEC squad in the Texas A&M Aggies.

There’s certainly an easy way to convince Davis and the rest of the college basketball world of their ability though. Tennessee is slated to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon, and that game could be huge for seeding when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

Additionally, Nate Oats‘ squad is currently 23-5 and ranked No. 6 in the nation. They’ve won back-to-back games against ranked squads, and a win over the Crimson Tide would go a long way towards strengthening Tennessee’s already impressive resume.

All told, Tennessee is headed to the NCAA Tournament, and they’re likely going to be a competitive squad when the time comes. Are they championship caliber though? Rece Davis doesn’t believe so, but that won’t stop the Volunteers from trying to prove the ESPN analyst wrong.