March Madness Odds: No. 2 Tennessee opens as big favorite over No. 15 Saint Peter's

Tennessee basketball, the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region, opened as a 20-point favorite over No. 15 Saint Peter’s for Thursday game in the first round in Charlotte, according to Circa Sports. The total was set at 128.5.

The Vols (24-8) and Peacocks (19-13) are scheduled for a 9:20 p.m. Eastern Time start Thursday. The game will be televised on TNT.

“I just told the team, really, we’ve got to look at it like this is the Charlotte Invitational right now,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Sunday night after the bracket was revealed, “us, Saint Peter’s and then we’ll go from there.”

Vols are No. 5 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

Tennessee was the No. 5 overall seed in the 68-team field, the same spot the Vols were in as a No. 2 seed in 2019, and Saint Peter’s was the No. 62 seed. 

Saint Peter’s beat Rider, Quinnipiac and Fairfield over the course of three days to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament over the weekend. The Peacocks lost to Rider and Quinnipiac over the final two games of the regular season and had a stretch of six losses over eight games between January 19 and February 10.

KenPom.com has Saint Peter’s at No. 187 overall in its ratings, ranked No. 76 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 305 in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Peacocks are No. 338 in adjusted tempo and No. 344 average possession length.

Tennessee, ranked No. 7 overall in the KenPom ratings, is projected to win 74-55 in the KenPom prediction with a 96% chance to win.

The Vols are in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive time under Rick Barnes and have been seeded no lower than a No. 5. The Vols have been a No. 2 seed twice, a No. 3 seed twice and were a No. 4 seed last year. They were a No. 5 in the COVID bubble tournament in Indianapolis in 2021. 

Tennessee clinched the outright SEC regular-season championship with a 66-59 win at South Carolina on March 6 but has lost back-to-back games since then — the first time the Vols have lost consecutive games since November — after losing to Kentucky in the regular-season finale and to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

“One, I really, I congratulate our guys because you don’t ever take this time of year for granted,” Barnes said. “And the fact that they’ve worked hard all year to put themselves in a position again to earn the seed they’ve gotten. And I think they’ll be excited to play. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind they’re going to be ready to play and excited to play, but you don’t take it for granted. And we’re blessed to have this opportunity. We’ve got to really try to make the most of it.”

No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s, Thursday, 9:20 p.m. ET, TNT

Saint Peter’s lost at Seton Hall (70-59) and at Rutgers (71-40) in its two high-major games this season. The Peacocks were a No. 15 seed two years ago when they made a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight, beating No. 2 Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue before losing to No. 8 North Carolina.

“That’s what I told our team,” Barnes said. “I said if I were at Saint Peter’s right now, it’d be the first thing I’d put up right there. Say look what happened, it can be done. And we know it can be done now at every level. I mean, No. 16 seeds beat a No. 1 or No. 15 beat a No. 2. It’s about our focus and getting ready. 

“And you got to go out and play great basketball from here on out. Because if you’re playing this time of year, you’re playing good basketball and even teams like ourselves who lost two in a row. But you look at that board when they put it up, there’s no easy games for anybody. I don’t think anybody thinks it’s an easy one. Because if you’re playing now you’re playing good basketball.”