The Vols are going dancing for the eighth straight year.
Tennessee basketball earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, garnering the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region. The Vols will travel to Philadelphia to face the winner of a First Four matchup between No. 11-seeded Miami (OH) and No. 11-seeded SMU on March 20. Should it advance past the first round, Tennessee would meet either third-seeded Virginia or No. 14-seeded Wright State at Xfinity Mobile Arena with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
“Everybody that’s in it should be congratulated,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “Because they’ve set out against 350-some teams to try to be part of this tournament. And so when you get there, it’s something you don’t ever, ever take for granted. Because it’s hard to get to the NCAA Tournament.”
The Vols saw themselves eliminated from the SEC Tournament by Vanderbilt in the quarterfinal round over the weekend, winning a single game against Auburn before falling to the eventual conference runner-up. Head coach Rick Barnes’ group is carrying a 2-4 record over its last six games heading into this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Miami (OH) emerged as one of the top stories of the regular season, posting a 31-0 record in the Mid-American Conference. The Redhawks dropped their first game of the season in their first matchup of the MAC tournament, falling 87-83 to UMass. With their selection to the NCAA Tournament, they became the first-ever team to qualify without playing a Quadrant 1 game.
“I just think any time that you win 30 games it speaks volumes about you,” Barnes said. “Even when you get up around eight, nine, 10 games, the season gets cranking, and you get a big bullseye on your back. It pretty much tells you they’ve been a mentally tough team.”
SMU amassed a 20-13 overall record in its campaign, but amassed a losing 8-10 mark in ACC play. The Mustangs fell in the second round of their league tournament to No. 6-seeded Louisville after rolling Syracuse in the opening game. They closed their season on a four-game losing streak, dropping two of those contests by double-digits. SMU notched a 2-2 record against SEC teams this season, downing Mississippi State and Texas A&M in overtime while suffering losses against Vanderbilt and LSU.
The Redhawks and Mustangs will do battle for the right to face Tennessee in Dayton, Ohio, on March 18. The Vols will try to advance past the opening weekend of NCAA Tournament play for the third straight season.
“I’m excited for this group,” Barnes said. “We set out, and our goal has always been to try to play for a national championship. And we’re just one of the teams in this tournament that, with the rest of them, have a chance to do that.”
