Tennessee opens as favorite against Florida Atlantic in Sweet Sixteen
No. 4-seed Tennessee opened Sunday night as a 5.5-point favorite over No. 9 Florida Atlantic for Thursday’s Sweet Sixteen game at Madison Square Garden. The winner of the NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal game will face either No. 3 Kansas State or No. 7 Michigan State in the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Tennessee (25-10) and FAU (34-3) is set for a 9 p.m. Eastern Time start on TBS, following Michigan State-Kansas State, a 6:30 p.m. ET start on TBS.
The Vols advanced out of Orlando with wins over Louisiana on Thursday and Duke on Saturday. FAU beat Memphis on a layup with 2.5 seconds left Friday night, then advanced past No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson, which was fresh off its upset of No. 1-seed Purdue, on Sunday night in Columbus.
Tennessee is in the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth time in program history and the second time under head coach Rick Barnes. The winner between the Vols and FAU will advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Tennessee as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament
Tennessee has been a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament three times previously. The Vols in 1981, when the tournament had 48 teams, beat No. 5-seed VCU 58-56 in overtime, then lost to No. 1-seed Virginia 62-48 in the second round.
In 1999, Tennessee beat No. 13 Delaware 62-52 in the first round, then lost No. 12 Southwest Missouri State 81-51 in the second round. The Vols went to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed in 2000, beating No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette (63-58) in the first round and UConn (65-51) in the second round. No. 8 North Carolina beat Tennessee 74-69 in the round of sixteen.
Top 10
- 1Hot
Kirk Herbstreit
Shot fired at First Take, Stephen A. Smith
- 2New
Ohio State vs. Oregon odds
Early Rose Bowl line released
- 3
Updated CFP Bracket
Quarterfinal matchups set
- 4Trending
Paul Finebaum
ESPN host rips CFP amid blowout
- 5
Klatt blasts Kiffin
Ole Miss HC called out for tweets
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
The Vols in the NCAA Tournament
Tennessee has been to the NCAA Tournament 24 times in program history and has a 23-25 overall record in the tournament. The Vols have been to the Elite Eight once (2010) and will be making their ninth trip to the Sweet Sixteen eight times (1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2019 and 2023). There have been 18 appearances for Tennessee in the round of 32.
The Vols are 1-8 in the Round of 16, with the lone win coming against No. 2-seed Ohio State in St. Louis in 2010. Tennessee’s Sweet Sixteen losses came against Dayton (1967), Virginia (1981), North Carolina (2000), Ohio State (2007), Louisville (2008), Michigan (2014) and Purdue (2019).
Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes
Rick Barnes is 27-26 overall in 26 previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, dating back to 1989. He’s taken the Vols to five straight tournaments after missing the postseason in his first two seasons at Tennessee and COVID cancelling the 2020 tournament. Barnes is 5-4 in NCAA Tournament games at Tennessee.
The Vols were a No. 3 seed in 2018, but lost to No. 11 Loyola-Chicago in the second round. Tennessee was a No. 2 seed in 2019, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 3 Purdue, and was a No. 5 seed in 2021, losing to No. 12 Oregon State in the first round. The Vols were a No. 3 a year ago, losing to No. 11 Michigan in the second round.
