Tennessee vs. Houston: Officiating crew revealed for Elite 8 matchup

The officiating crew calling the Elite Eight matchup between Houston and Tennessee has been revealed ahead of Sunday’s tip-off. A.J. Desai, Courtney Green and Doug Sirmons have drawn the assignment, with Deldre Carr on standby.

On Friday, Houston defeated Purdue 62-60 in a nail-biter to advance through to the program’s eighth Elite Eight berth. Milos Uzan stole the show for the Cougars, notching a team-high 22 points and six assists. As usual, Houston’s defense was stellar as well, holding Purdue to just 40% shooting.

Houston isn’t the only team that looked dangerous in the Sweet Sixteen. Tennessee handily defeated Kentucky 78-65 in the two teams’ third meeting of the season. Zakai Zeigler was phenomenal for the Volunteers, recording 18 points and 10 assists.

The Volunteers are looking to advance to their first Final Four in program history with a win on Sunday. Meanwhile, Houston has reached the Final Four six times in its program history, most recently in 2021. Both programs will be hungry to reach that milestone before the weekend is over.

Sunday will be the sixth time in history these two programs will meet. However, this will be the first time these two do battle in March Madness — and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Tennessee holds the series lead 3-2 all-time, including a two-game win streal.

However, these two teams haven’t even matchup up once this century. The consecutive wins came during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, and the last time Tennessee lost to Houston came all the way back in 1971.

Tip-off between the Volunteers and Cougars is scheduled for 2:20 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS. The winner earns a spot in the Final Four against Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils.

Odds, KenPom prediction for Houston vs. Tennessee

According to FanDuel, Houston is a 3.5-point favorite against Tennessee. Additionally, the Cougars boast -164 odds on the money line.

The over/under for the game is set at just 124.5 points. For reference, Houston is averaging 74.2 points per game while Tennessee is averaging a nearly-identical 74.7.

KenPom Predicted final score: Houston 63, Tennessee 61
KenPom Win probability (for Houston): 58%

KenPom is a predictive system for college basketball. It’s designed to show how strong a team is at a given time without taking factors like injuries into account. KenPom projects Houston to punch its ticket to San Antonio with a 63-61 win over the Volunteers.