After an electric 48 hours across the college basketball world, we’re now down to 32 teams remaining in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The field has been cut in half after the games on Thursday and Friday, and now teams will compete on Saturday and Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16 next weekend.
Tennessee emphatically handled its business on Friday night in Philadelphia. The Vols destroyed 11-seed Miami (OH) in Xfinity Mobile Arena, led by Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 29 points and nine assists. Tennessee forward JP Estrella added 14 points and 10 rebounds of his own, while star freshman Nate Ament was a bit limited as he plays through an injury that was suffered late in the regular season.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf ranked all 32 remaining tournament teams on Saturday morning and listed Tennessee as the 21st-best team still left in the field.
“The Vols stopped Miami (Ohio) on Friday even though Nate Ament, the 6-10 projected lottery pick, finished 0-for-3,” Medcald writes. “Ja’Kobi Gillespie instead continued to be the catalyst with 29 points. The Vols are the top offensive rebounding team in the country and, for the past six weeks, have also been top-10 defensively. They did have a letdown of a 2-4 stretch before the NCAA tournament despite wins over Vanderbilt, Alabama and Tennessee. If they keep playing to their strengths, they can reach the second weekend.”
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Every team above Tennessee has a higher tournament seed than the Vols, except for one. Medcalf has 7-seed Kentucky, a team that needed overtime to knock off 10-seed Santa Clara on Friday, as the 20th-best team on his list.
Kentucky and Tennessee are both one upset win away from meeting up in the Sweet 16 for a second straight year. If Kentucky knocks off 2-seed Iowa State and Tennessee takes down 3-seed Virginia on Sunday, the two SEC border rivals will meet in the Sweet 16 next weekend in Chicago. The Vols and Wildcats previously faced off in the Sweet 16 last year, with Tennessee knocking off its rival to advance to the Elite Eight.
Another team that lands above Tennessee in the rankings is 3-seed Virginia, which the Vols will take on Sunday evening in the Round of 32. Medcalf has the Cavaliers as the 15th-best team still remaining in the tournament after a win over 14-seed Wright State on Friday.
“This Virginia team doesn’t look like the groups that were more methodical under Tony Bennett,” Medcalf writes. “In the Ryan Odom era, nearly half of the Cavaliers’ field goal attempts are 3-pointers, which might have seemed sacrilegious under the old guard. Yet, it works: Virginia took down Wright State on Friday after making 13 shots from beyond the arc. The Cavs also play a defense that’s allowed just one team (Miami) to exceed a 42% clip inside the arc over their past four games.”
6-seed Tennessee and 3-seed Virginia will square off at 6:10 p.m. ET on Sunday evening in Philadelphia, PA. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the NCAA Tournament game.
