ESPN's Jay Bilas breaks down Vols ahead of College GameDay's trip to Tennessee

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas talks Tennessee basketball ahead of College GameDay’s trip to Knoxville for Saturday’s game between the fourth-ranked Vols and No. 10 Texas at Thompson-Boling Arena:

What makes this Tennessee basketball team special

“Well, a few things. One they play really hard, and that’s always been a staple of Rick Barnes team since I’ve known him and I first met him, I think, when he was an assistant at George Mason back in the the eighties. But Rick, Rick’s teams always do a great job of on-ball pressure. They put a ton of pressure on the ball and they make it very difficult to get into offense. And with that kind of ball pressure it also makes it difficult to make passes, and that’s one of the reasons they guard the post really well is their post defenders are obviously very good, but but they also put pressure on the ball, which is the the first part of post defense of making it difficult to see in. And they do a great job of being in gaps. So their positioning really starts their help (defense) and as a result they are not put in rotation very much. You know the ball pressure, they contain the ball very well, and they’re not in rotation a lot, because once you get in rotation that that can get some defenses in trouble, and they’re very good rebounding the ball and ending in defensive possession.

“I’ve always been a big fan of the way Rick does things, and his teams are extraordinarily well-prepared, but he also gets guys that are relentless and playing hard, and that’s a big factor in their defense and their defensive success. It’s their identity really.”

Where he ranks Zakai Zeigler among SEC point guards

“He’s right there because he’s so good defensively. It sounds less than flattering to say he’s a pest, but he’s really disruptive as a defender because he’s small, but that’s an advantage for him in a lot of ways, because he’s quick, and he’s strong. But he can really kind of get up underneath the defender or an offensive player as a defender, and really be disruptive that way, and with his size he uses leverage as a defender very well, so he’s really difficult to deal with, and when he’s guarding you, the first thing you’re concerned about is him rather than running your team’s offense, and that’s a great attribute for a defender. And then, as an offensive player, he’s got such great speed and he changes speeds, too, but you know he can get by you, and when he does, he draws help and plays, plays off that very effectively.

If he sees something different with this Tennessee team that can help it get over the hump in March

“Well, I think the issue that Tennessee and a lot of teams have is are they going to be consistent game to game in making shots. And last time I had them live was against Kentucky and they they just couldn’t make any shots. Their defense was good. They held Kentucky to 30-some percent from the field. And down in the sixties (in scoring). It was a slug fest of a game and incredibly physical. But I’m sure, Rick, there were issues that he had where they didn’t defend a particular way on certain possessions, but overall they defended well enough to win the game. Their offense didn’t match their defense. They had some turnovers that led to some run outs and some easy baskets the other way, but not enough that their offense couldn’t overcome it. 

“But I actually spoke to Rick about this. We talked about it the day before the game, that for most coaches right now their biggest concern game to game is are we going to be able to make shots in these games? These games are incredibly physical. And it requires making shots through contact more than I can remember in the past. But that’s really sort of the issue. There’s nothing, no weakness you can point to and say, ‘oh, this is going to be an an impediment to Tennessee winning the national championship. The only thing I would say is game to game. You know some games they knock shots down to really high rate. Other games, it’s more difficult, and they have to fight through offensive droughts, but that’s not horribly unusual for teams, but that’s really the thing that I would say would be of concern. But it’s of concern to a number of different teams.”

Tennessee’s post play

“I think they’re very effective. I mean Rick can go with a lot of different lineups. So, they can play small, but when Uros is in there he’s done a really good job defensively. He’s a good communicator. He does a great job ducking in the lane and getting deep post, and he can pass out of the post. He’s effective with that jump hook, and he scores in his opportunities around the basket, so he’s an effective big guy. I think the one of the keys for Tennessee is they’ve got lineup versatility. They’ve got a lot of different guys that can play. And you know Olivier Nkamhoua has become a really good player, and he’s improved year to year, so he’s a weapon out there, especially when he catches it at the elbow as a high post — he can drive in there. Not only can he make that shot, but he can drive and get to the rim. They’ve got a lot of good options. That’s a really talented, good basketball team. There’s only a handful of teams that you would say, okay, well, you know, they might be better than Tennessee, but it’s not very many.”

The key matchups between Tennessee and Texas

“Texas, you have to start with the guards, because their guards are really effective, and they can really score. Before before you get there you have to expect that it’s going to be a lower scoring game because both teams play really physical defense so, and they they’re very good at taking other teams out of transition. They’re taking out of your primary action, so, a lot of these lot of these actions, the play after the play is what’s important for you. Your initial action isn’t going to get it for you. So to get to the second and third side of the floor, I think it’s going to be really important, but it’s hard to make passes against against both Tennessee and Texas. But those guards are are really good and then Jabari Rice, who transferred in to Texas, makes a lot of impact plays and games really good defender, and Timmy Allen’s difficult to deal with because he’s in constant motion. He moves without the ball as well as just about any wing in the country.”

If defense still wins championships in a more offensive age

“Well, I can’t remember a bad defensive team that’s won a championship, but I also can’t remember an average offensive team winning it either. If you go down through the the stats and analytics of champions, usually they’re in the top 20 in offensive and defensive efficiency. That’s not always the case. But when you look at teams that might be top 10 in offense, but they’re ranked sixtieth in defense or vice versa, those aren’t your top contenders normally, and that’s played out. Look, I get the whole defense wins championship thing, and I also get when people say that that, yeah, you gotta have great guards to win. But when you can’t rebound, guards don’t matter. You need both, and no team has won it without both. If you don’t have that sort of balance and you’re not able to score or guard at the rim, you’re gonna have some problems.”

How wide open college basketball is this season

“Alabama and Tennessee are better this year than than some of the traditional powers that you’ve seen. So, just out of the gate, they’re in better shape, but we’ve had years like this before. I mean. What was it 2 years ago? Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky were not particularly strong and a couple of them didn’t make the tournament. This is not unprecedented, but I think we’re seeing this year there are some unusual suspects that are at or near the top this year and they’ve been traditionally very good. But you’ve always had Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, some other programs that that have taken the lead there, and have done so consistently over time. This year there, there’s no dominant team that’s that’s emerged yet, but the truth is this time last year, I don’t know how many people would have said, ‘Yup. Kansas is going to win the National Championship and North Carolina will be in the Final Four and make the title game. There’s a long way to go here, and these teams are gonna get better and better. Some of these teams better and better out of public view. They’re still going to practice every day and and working on things. There’s there’s a long way to go here.

“But I agree with you that that this year feels like nobody has stood out, even though you’ve had — Purdue’s only got one loss, Alabama’s only got a couple, things like that where there are some some very talented teams, but nobody is knockout punch dominant that you could pencil them into the Final Four right now. And that’s why it feels so wide open. Because if some of the some of these teams lose in the Sweet 16, you’re going to see some brackets open up to some contenders that you might not have have put near the top at the start of the tournament.”

ESPN’s GameDay going back to Tennessee

“Thompson-Boling is a great arena. I love going there. It’s a great view of the game, too, and Tennessee is always really good. The fan base is fantastic and they show up and show out. We really enjoy being there and Rick’s been a friend for a long time, so for me, it’s always fun to to watch him work and last time I was there for the Kentucky game, I spent the day there prior to the game and sat in film session with them. I always learn a lot about about the program. It’s a it’s just a great place and it’s got a special vibe. That’s one of the things that makes in my view, college basketball so unique, are the environments. Thompson-Boling has got a fantastic environment for basketball.”

Tennessee’s depth

“Tennessee’s depth is impressive. Tt gives them line up flexibility. You can go big. You can go small, so you can match at times what opponents are doing. At the same time you can lead the way and make your opponent adjust to you. But having Josiah-Jordan James who can play multiple positions — most importantly, with their lineups they have, they have multiple guys that can guard multiple positions. At times they can switch and make things difficult on you defensively. Tennessee does a really good job when they switch. They don’t just switch to make a pick up. They switch to take something away and they’re really disruptive and physical and difficult to play against on offense. You’d better have individual playmakers when you play against Tennessee because you’re gonna have to. You’re not going to run your pattern stuff against them. They’re going to take away what you do in your initial actions, and you’re gonna have to have counters to those. As a player you’re gonna have to have counters to the way you’re guarded because they’re going to take away your strength, so you better have you better have something to go to, or it’s going to be a long night. Those numbers that they put up with with. How often they hold teams under 60 or in the sixties, and the shooting percentages they hold teams to, that’s not a fluke, that that’s who they are. You’d better be prepared for that. Their depth is impressive and they’ve got a number of guys that can play. They’re getting healthier. They’ve had some some injuries here and there like most teams, but as they get healthy through the season — everybody’s going to get banged up, but there’s a difference between injury and being banged up. But as they get they get healthy from injury and get Josiah-Jordan James back to full strength, that makes them even better.”

If he has seen many guards improve defensively like Santiago Vescovi has

“The answer is yes I have, but that doesn’t take away how impressive that’s been on Santi’s part that I think one of the things that’s made him such a good defender and a good player is that he’s in fantastic physical condition and that wasn’t necessarily true when he got when he got to Tennessee. You remember this better better than I do, or better than anybody really, that when he got there, he came in and started playing right away and offensively, played very well right away. He’s a very gifted player and he’s got a great understanding of how to play, and when he got there he had an understanding of how to play on offense. But he logs as much mileage in a game as any guard in the country. He’s constantly running off screens and constantly in motion on defense. That requires great physical conditioning. He’s in great shape. That’s a trait of of the Tennessee program. Their strength and conditioning, and the way they take care of themselves is next level. But you have to give Santi a ton of credit for how seriously he takes his conditioning, because he doesn’t seem to tire out there, and that shows up, I believe, late in games when when he seems really fresh. When other players seem to be wearing down a little bit, he never seems to really wear down.”

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 10 Texas, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN

Tennessee basketball will host ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, before the Vols take on Texas inside a sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena in the Big 12-SEC Challenge. The pregame show airs live on ESPN from 11 a.m. to Noon Eastern Time

Fans can begin lining up to be part of the live audience for the show at 7 a.m. ET Saturday. Tennessee students will line up at the student gate while general fans will enter at Gate D. Both gates open at 9:30 a.m. 

Tickets to the game are not required to get into the arena to be part of the show’s audience. Free parking is available in the G10 garage, but vehicles must clear the garage by 1 p.m. ET, with digital parking permits required for re-entry.