Vols


The Tennessee men’s basketball team won’t give fans anything to look forward to after a tough football season.

Cuonzo Martin starts his Tennessee tenure with a doozy of a schedule — rated as high as the sixth-toughest in the nation. The Vols have 11 games against teams in the preseason AP top 25 poll, and up to 10 NCAA Tournament teams from last season.

After two exhibition-esque games, the Vols travel to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. They will play No. 6 Duke, then either No. 11 Memphis or No. 18 Michigan. No. 13 Kansas, No. 17 UCLA and Georgetown  are also in the field as potential matchups. They then travel to Oakland before hosting No. 18 Pittsburgh.

For a young team — Tennessee has six freshmen and just two seniors — that could be a demoralizing stretch early in the season. Even if Martin has the team playing high-paced with solid defense, they could still receive a few butt-whoopings.

Do expect that defense to return, though, just like when Bruce Pearl first got here. Martin has elevated the intensity in practice, and he is a big believer in the D. If Tennessee’s schedule weren’t so difficult, it could even help them to a few upsets.

There are hardly any favorable stretches in the schedule, and facing Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt twice won’t help UT’s conference record.

No more Tobias Harris, Scotty Hopson, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins is going to be tough to overcome all at once for the Vols.

Prediction: 13-17 (6-10 SEC), No NCAA Tournament

Lady Vols


The Lady Vols were a motivated team before Pat Summitt’s diagnosis.

UT was booted out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round in 2009. Sweet Sixteen in 2010. Elite Eight last year.

So it only makes sense the Lady Vols will keep improving.

Ranked No. 3 preseason, Tennessee returns eight letter-winners from a team that won the SEC regular season and tournament championships on its way to a top NCAA Tournament seed and a 34-3 record.

Like the men, the Lady Vols face a killer schedule. Seven of their first 10 opponents are ranked, and they’ll play all those games before Christmas.

Tennessee will have to rely even more on one of the country’s most versatile players in All-American and SEC Player of the Year Shekinna Stricklen, but she’s not alone. Forward Glory Johnson and SEC Freshman of the Year guard Meighan Simmons also garnered SEC accolades.

The Lady Vols have plenty of experience with five seniors and two juniors on the roster. Three freshmen may be enough to return UT to national title levels.

Prediction: 28-1 (16-0 SEC), National Runner-Up