Sweet 16 set: Tennessee to face Kentucky for first time in NCAA Tournament
Tennessee and Kentucky will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time when the two teams meet in the Sweet 16 on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Start time and TV information for the Midwest Region semifinal will be announced Sunday night after the conclusion of the remaining second-round games.
Tennessee and Kentucky have played 241 times in a rivalry that dates back to 1910, but the two programs have never met in the NCAA Tournament. It will also be the first time the Vols have faced an SEC opponent in the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky (24-11), the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region, beat Illinois Sunday in Milwaukee to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament under first-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope.
The Wildcats advanced out of the first round with a 76-57 win over No. 14 Troy on Friday.
Vols beat Wofford, UCLA to advance to Midwest Region semifinal
Tennessee (29-7) beat No. 15 Wofford 77-62 in the first round Thursday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington and punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 67-58 win over No. 7 UCLA late Saturday night.
Kentucky swept the Vols during the regular season, winning 78-73 at Food City Center on January 28 and 75-64 at Rupp Arena on February 11.
No. 1 Houston and No. 4 Purdue are in the other Midwest semifinal on Friday, with winners from the two games advancing to Sunday’s Elite Eight round.
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Tennessee has made three straight Sweet 16s for first time in program history
Tennessee is in the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and for the fourth time in seven NCAA Tournament trips under head coach Rick Barnes.
The Vols went to the Elite Eight last season before losing to No. 1 Purdue in Detroit in the Midwest Region. Tennessee lost to Final Four-bound Florida Atlantic in the 2023 Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden and lost to No. 3 Purdue in the 2019 Sweet 16 at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
Tennessee went to the Sweet 16 just five times before Barnes, between 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 teams, and 2014, when the Vols went from the First Four to the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed.
“It goes back to leadership with our players,” Barnes said of Tennessee’s third straight Sweet 16 trip. “They deserve all the credit. They want to be coached, they know what we as a coaching staff expect from them every day and they know we’re going to try to be as consistent as we can doing our jobs and we want them to do that.
“It’s just a great testament to these guys that they real
