Will Tennessee make its first Final Four in program history? Our pick vs Michigan

CHICAGO − Tennessee basketball was not consistently great against top teams in the regular season. It led to its lowest Men’s NCAA Tournament seeding under coach Rick Barnes.

Once March Madness started, though, the No. 6 Vols (25-11) course-corrected into the most dangerous team in the tournament. Tennessee outclassed No. 2 Iowa State (29-8) for a 76-62 victory at the United Center on March 27 to make its third straight Elite Eight appearance.

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The Vols will need one more upset against No. 1 Michigan (34-3), likely the best team they’ve seen all season, on March 29 (2:15 p.m. ET, CBS). A victory sends UT to the school’s first Final Four appearance.

The winner would play No. 1 Arizona (35-2) or No. 2 Purdue (30-8) in Indianapolis on April 4.

Here’s our pick for Tennessee basketball’s Elite Eight game against Michigan.

How does Tennessee basketball keep proving Knox News wrong?

Knox News selected both Virginia and Iowa State to boot Tennessee out of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols are still alive and reached the Elite Eight by eliminating the mistakes that tripped them up in the regular season.

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Instead of crumbling when Virginia took a late lead, Tennessee kept the Cavaliers off the scoreboard and made its free throws. Instead of surrendering a double-digit lead while freshman star Nate Ament sat for almost seven minutes with foul trouble, Tennessee continued to punish Iowa State with its frontcourt, allowing the freshman star time to come in and close out the victory.

Even the turnovers aren’t affecting the Vols as much as they should. They turned the ball over 17 times to the Cyclones, but Tennessee’s overwhelming advantage on the glass and interior scoring canceled out the mistakes.

The timing of the turnovers is also crucial. Tennessee unlocked Iowa State’s defense in the second half and only had two turnovers in the final 10 minutes of play.

Does Michigan have any holes?

Tennessee doesn’t have a lot of Michigan losses to pull data from. The Wolverines had…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tennessee-first-final-four-program-154140011.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-28 15:41:00

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