ESPN predicts Tennessee Basketball to make return trip to Elite Eight
ESPN is predicting Tennessee Basketball to make a run to the Elite Eight for a second straight season. Jeff Borzello on Sunday night projected the Vols to make it to the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1-seed Houston.
Tennessee (27-7) is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and will play No. 15 Wofford (19-15) on Thursday (6:50 p.m. Eastern Time, TNT) at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Vols and Terriers are opposite of No. 7 UCLA and No. 10 Utah State.
Tennessee opened as a 19.5-point favorite over Wofford. KenPom.com projects Tennessee to win 76-59, with a 93% chance to win. KenPom also gives Tennessee a 71.7% chance to make the Sweet 16, a 50.4% chance to make the Elite Eight and a 26.3% chance to make the Final Four.
‘Tennessee’s elite defense will be tested by either Illinois or Kentucky in the Sweet 16’
Borzello picked Tennessee to beat Wofford 78-61 and to beat UCLA 64-58 in the second round. He has the Vols beating Illinois 70-66 in the Sweet 16 and advancing to what would be just the third Elite Eight appearance in program history.
He picked Illinois, the No. 6 seed in the Midwest, to upset No. 3 Kentucky in the second round.
“Tennessee’s elite defense will be tested by either Illinois or Kentucky in the Sweet 16,” Borzello wrote, “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.”
Tennessee won 66-64 at Illinois on December 14 when Jordan Gainey scored on a transition layup at the buzzer at State Farm Arena in Champaign.
“Which version of Illinois will show up,” Borzello asked, “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.”
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Borzello picked Houston to beat Tennessee 65-62 in the Midwest Regional final at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“In what should be a war of attrition in the Elite Eight,” Borzello wrote, “Houston’s superior firepower should get the Cougars past Tennessee and into the Final Four.”
Vols beat Auburn, lost to Florida in SEC Tournament
Tennessee flirted with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament after beating Auburn — the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed — on Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals in Nashville.
But the final No. 1 went to Florida, after the Gators beat the Vols 86-77 for the SEC Tournament championship.
Borzello had all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four, with Florida beating Auburn and Duke beating Houston to setup a Florida-Duke national championship game.
He picked Florida to beat Duke, 76-75.
“One coach without a single NCAA Tournament win in his career,” Borzello wrote of Florida’s Todd Golden, “against a team starting three freshmen — it’s not the most comfortable national championship game, but both teams have been utterly dominant for most of the second half of the season and are fantastic at both ends of the floor.”
