NCAA Tournament odds: Tennessee opens as double-digit favorite against Louisiana
Tennessee on Sunday night opened as a 10.5-point favorite against Louisiana in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Vols and No. 13-seed Ragin’ Cajuns play at 9:40 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday at Amway Center in Orlando in the tournament’s East Region.
The Tennessee-Louisiana winner will face either No. 5 Duke or No. 12 Oral Roberts on Saturday in Orlando. Duke opened as a 6.5-point favorite in the first round.
Other East Region matchups include No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 16 Texas Southern or No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 8 Memphis (-2.5) vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic, No. 6 Kentucky (-3.5) vs. No. 11 Providence, No. 3 Kansas State (-9) vs. No. 14 Montana State, No. 7 Michigan State (-2) vs. No. 10 USC and No. 2 Marquette (-11) vs. No. 15 Vermont.
Tennessee (23-10), the tournament’s No. 14 overall seed, enters the NCAA Tournament with seven losses over its previous 12 games, dating back to February 1. The Vols lost 79-71 to Missouri in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round on Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Louisiana (26-7), the No. 54 overall seed, enters on a five-game win streak and is led by 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward Jordan Brown, who averages 19.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Guard Greg Williams Jr. averaged 13.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game and forward Terence Lewis II averages 11.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
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.
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In 1999, Tennessee beat No. 13 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.
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 the Sweet Sixteen eight times (1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2019). There have been 17 appearances for Tennessee in the round of 32.
Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes
Rick Barnes has a 25-26 record 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 3-4 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.
