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How To Watch: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•03/28/25•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball, Lucas Oil Stadium | Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Basketball, Lucas Oil Stadium | Tennessee Athletics

INDIANAPOLIS — The wait is over. Game day is here for No. 2 Tennessee and No. 3 Kentucky in the Sweet 16, with the two rivals meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Tipoff Friday night is scheduled for 7:39 Eastern Time on TBS/TruTV at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Tennessee (29-7), in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season, is coming off wins over No. 15 Wofford and No. 7 UCLA in the first two rounds at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Kentucky (24-11) advanced with wins over No. 14 Troy and No. 6 Illinois in Milwaukee to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.

The Wildcats swept the Vols during the regular season, winning 78-73 in Knoxville on January 28 and 75-64 at Rupp Arena on February 11.

How To Watch: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Kentucky

Start Time: Friday, 7:39 p.m. Eastern Time

TV: TBS/TruTV

Streaming: ESPN App or WatchESPN.com

Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

KenPom Prediction: Tennessee 76, Kentucky 72 (65% chance to win)

The Line: Tennessee -4.5 (Total: 144.5)

The Tennessee-Kentucky Series

Tennessee and Kentucky have met 241 times in a rivalry that dates back to 1910, but the Vols and Wildcats have never played in the NCAA Tournament.

It’s also the first time Tennessee has faced an SEC opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols are one of seven SEC teams in the Sweet 16, an NCAA Tournament record, and one of 14 teams that made the 68-team field, another tournament record.

Rick Barnes started 10-7 in his first 17 games against Kentucky as Tennessee’s head coach, but the Wildcats have won three straight and five of the last six.

Tennessee went 11-for-45 from the 3-point line in the 78-73 loss to Kentucky at Food City Center on January 28. At Rupp Arena two weeks later, Tennessee went 3-for-18 from the 3-point line in a 75-64 loss. 

Zakai Zeigler’s layup with 4:51 left gave Tennessee a 60-58 lead on the road, but the Wildcats took the lead for good on a Koby Brea 3-pointer on the other end and closed the game on a 17-4 run. 

Kentucky shot 12-for-24 from the 3-point line in both wins and also shot 50.0% from the field in both games.

“I feel like it’s one of the biggest rivalries in college basketball,” Zeigler said on Thursday. “It’s definitely fun going into Rupp, going into TBA (Thompson-Boling Arena) playing those games. There’s a lot of emotion that goes into it.

“This being the first time meeting in a place like this, especially for a moment like this, especially knowing how many seniors we’ve got on this team and going into the game, how the season went and the regular season playing against them, so it definitely is going to be a lot of fun going out there. And it’s definitely going to mean a lot to us but to all Vol Nation.”

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