Start time, TV announced for Tennessee vs. Kentucky in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
Tennessee’s game against Kentucky in the Sweet 16 on Friday will start at 7:39 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by TBS/TruTV. Start times and TV information was announced for the NCAA Tournament third-round games Sunday night.
Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn will be on the call for TBS/TruTV.
No. 1 Houston and No. 4 Purdue, the other game in the Midwest Region semifinal on Friday, will start at 10:09 p.m. ET. The winners from the two games advance to Sunday’s Elite Eight round.
The Vols (29-7) and Wildcats (24-11) are meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the history of their 115-year-old rivalry.
Vols opened as 4.5-point favorite vs. Kentucky on FanDuel
Tennessee, despite being swept in the regular-season series against Kentucky, opened Sunday night as a 4.5-point favorite according to FanDuel, with the total set at 145.5.
Kentucky, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region, beat No. 6 Illinois Sunday in Milwaukee to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. The Wildcats advanced out of the first round with a 76-57 win over No. 14 Troy.
Kentucky beat Tennessee 78-73 at Food City Center in Knoxville on January 28 and won 75-64 at Rupp Arena on February 11.
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The Sweet 16 starts with No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 6 BYU (7:09 p.m. ET, CBS) in the East Region in Newark, followed by No. 1 Duke vs. either No. 4 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS). In the West Region on Thursday is No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Maryland (7:39 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV) and No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Arkansas (10:09 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV) in San Francisco.
The other Friday games are No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Ole Miss (7:09 p.m. ET, CBS) and No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 5 Michigan (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS) in the South Region in Atlanta.
Tennessee in the Sweet 16 for third straight year
Tennessee, in the Sweet 16 for a third straight year for the first time in program history, beat No. 15 Wofford 77-62 in the first round Thursday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington, then beat No. 7 UCLA 67-
The Vols went to the Elite Eight before losing to No. 1 Purdue in Detroit in the Midwest Region last season. 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.
