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Tennessee basketball has sixth best odds to win national title

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•02/13/23•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball
Andrew Ferguson | Tennessee Athletics

Despite the struggle over the last two weeks, Tennessee basketball still has the sixth best odds to win a national championship, according to Circa Sports. The sports book listed the Vols at +1600 to win the NCAA Tournament, behind Houston, Alabama, Purdue, UCLA and Kansas.

Houston, the favorite, is +700, just ahead of Alabama at +900. Purdue is +1000, UCLA is +1400 and Kansas is +1500.

The Vols (19-6, 8-4 SEC) host Alabama (22-3, 12-0) on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) inside a sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena.

Vols looking to bounce back from three losses over last four games

Tennessee has lost three of its last four games, dating back to the trip to Florida on February 1. Vanderbilt and Missouri both won on buzzer-beating shots against the Vols last week, with Vandy winning 66-65 in Nashville on Wednesday and Mizzou winning 86-85 Saturday.

Vanderbilt’s Tyrin Lawrence hit an open corner three as time expired at Memorial Gymnasium after a defensive breakdown by Tennessee. Missouri got a long, running three in desperation as time expired. Missed free throws by Santiago Vescovi in the closing seconds of both games kept the door open for the last-second game-winners.

The back-to-back losses at Vanderbilt and against Missouri were Tennessee’s first consecutive losses over the last 59 games, dating back to the loss to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Tournament, then the loss to Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was the first time Tennessee had lost two straight games by a single point since December 2010 and the first time the Vols had done so in SEC games since February 1981. 

The Vols are down to No. 5 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. They have been ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency for the last three months and are No. 52 in adjusted offensive efficiency after scoring 85 points Saturday night against Missouri. 

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Alabama, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

Tennessee entered the weekend as a No. 2 seed according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. He had the Vols as the No. 7 overall seed, behind Purdue, Alabama, Houston and Arizona, the No. 1 seeds, and Kansas and UCLA on the No. 2-seed line.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello dropped Tennessee five spots to No. 11 in his power rankings on Monday.

“Well, we can’t blame the offense this week,” Borzello wrote. “Tennessee dropped both of its games in heartbreaking fashion, losing on buzzer-beaters at Vanderbilt and then at home to Missouri. Surprisingly, it was the nation’s top-ranked defense that showed cracks. The Commodores and Tigers shot a combined 24-for-51 from 3 against the Vols, 47.1%. 

“For the season, Tennessee ranks No. 1 nationally in 3-point percentage defense, allowing opponents to make just 24.2%. The two opponents also turned it over just 15 times combined in the two games; Tennessee is in the top 20 in the country in defensive turnover percentage.”

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