What’s at stake for Tennessee basketball vs No. 1 Auburn from March Madness to road wins

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Auburn has a great coach in Bruce Pearl, an extremely sound team, one of the deepest teams Pearl has ever had, and enough firepower to overcome being without the likely national player of the year in Johni Broome.

Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes said all that about the No. 1 Tigers (17-1, 5-0 SEC) on Friday before the No. 7 Vols (17-2, 4-2) play at Neville Arena on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Barnes, who has a 2-1 record against top-ranked teams at UT, and the Vols have a major opportunity to notch one of the best wins in college basketball this season.

Here is what is at stake for Tennessee:

Tennessee win vs Auburn would help SEC standings for Vols, others

Auburn is the lone team unbeaten in SEC play, sitting at 5-0.

The Vols are one of five 4-2 teams, while Kentucky is 3-2. Alabama is alone in second place at 5-1.

A Tennessee win would liekly drop Auburn into a first-place tie with Alabama, while putting the two-loss teams within a game of first place. An Auburn win would cement the Tigers atop the league and leave all but the Crimson Tide at least two games back.

Auburn and Alabama still have to play twice this season, so Auburn wouldn’t suddenly run away with the conference with a win Saturday. But it would make it hard for Tennessee, which only plays Auburn and Alabama once each.

Tennessee win at Auburn would have big March Madness meaning for Vols

Tennessee and Auburn both are in the mix to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn is penciled in as the No. 1 overall seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Friday. The Vols are the No. 5 overall seed, which makes them a No. 2 seed.

The Vols likely would catapult onto the No. 1 seed line with a win at Auburn, but it would carry weight beyond the immediate effect on bracketology. A win at Auburn would give Tennessee two marquee road wins on its NCAA Tournament profile come Selection Sunday. The other was a 66-64 win at Illinois On dec. 14.

Tennessee needs a feel-good road win

The road has not been particularly kind to…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/whats-stake-tennessee-basketball-vs-212003357.html

Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-01-24 21:20:00

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