Tennessee basketball has some of the best national championship odds in the country
Tennessee basketball season is still six weeks away, but the Vols have some of the best odds to win a national championship in the country. The Vols according to FanDuel are +2000 to win a title, tied with Houston and Creighton for seventh best in the country.
Kansas is the current favorite at +1000, coming in ahead of Duke (+1200), Purdue (+1400), Michigan State (+1400), Kentucky (+1600) and UConn (+1800). Arizona and Marquette are just behind the Vols at +2500.
Tennessee, coming off a 25-11 season and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen last March, are currently projected by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi to be a No. 2 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Vols ranked No. 8 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25
The Vols return both Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James for their fifth seasons, returning alongside sophomore forward Tobe Awaka, junior forward Jonas Aidoo, junior point guard Zakai Zeigler and junior wing Jahmai Mashack.
Rick Barnes and his staff added wing Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and guard Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) out of the NCAA Transfer Portal and signed freshman forward JP Estrella, freshman wing Cameron Carr and freshman forward Cade Phillips.
Wing DJ Jefferson and guard Freddie Dilione V are redshirt freshmen after sitting out last season.
ESPN has Tennessee ranked No. 8 in its Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2023-24 college basketball season, with a projected starting five of Zeigler, Vecovi, Knecht, James and Aidoo.
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“Rick Barnes‘ team is well-positioned to be ranked around the top 10 to start the season,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote. “The Vols still bring in Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and Jordan Gainey (South Carolina Upstate) to boost their perimeter scoring, while getting all-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi and veteran starter Josiah-Jordan James back for another year. Zakai Zeigler‘s health and availability will be the key.”
A Closer Look: Tennessee basketball’s 2023-24 schedule
Tennessee will unofficially start the season with a charity exhibition game at Michigan State on October 29, with money going to Maui wildfire relief. The Vols start the season on November 6 against Tennessee Tech at Thompson-Boling Arena and play at Wisconsin on November 10.
Other non-conference highlights include Syracuse in the first of three games in three days in the Maui Invitational (November 20-22), a trip to North Carolina on November 29, a home game against Illinois on December 9 and a neutral-site game against North Carolina State on December 16 in San Antonio.
Tennessee’s SEC schedule starts with Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 6. The rest of the league schedule at home is Florida (January 16), Alabama (January 20), South Carolina (January 30), LSU (February 7), Vanderbilt (February 17), Texas A&M (February 24), Auburn (February 28) and Kentucky (March 9).
Road games in SEC play are at Mississippi State (January 10), at Vanderbilt (January 27), at Kentucky (February 3), at Texas A&M (February 10), at Arkansas (February 14), at Missouri (February 20), at Alabama (March 2) and at South Carolina (March 6).
