Tennessee Basketball has made recent NCAA Tournament history with its draw in the first weekend. According to TNT Sports via Ryan Hammer on X, Tennessee is the first team since the NCAA Tournament expansion in 1985 to play two 30+ win teams in the first two games of its tournament run. The Vols took care of business against 32-1 Miami (OH) in the first round on Friday and are currently battling against 30-5 Virginia in the second round on Sunday.
The Vols entered the tournament as the 6-seed in the Midwest Region.
Wild stat from the TNT broadcast:
Tennessee is the first team since tourney expansion in 1985 to play two 30+ win teams in the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament (Miami & UVA)
— Ryan Hammer🔨 (@ryanhammer09) March 22, 2026
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At the time of this publication, Tennessee is leading 3-seed Virginia by a score of 36-31 at the halftime break. If the Vols can win, they’ll take on 2-seed Iowa State (29-7) in the Sweet 16 next weekend in Chicago, IL.
Tennessee senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the way for the Vols in their first-round win over the RedHawks. He went for 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting and added nine assists to his box score line. Tennessee forward JP Estrella also had a nice game in the opening contest with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Stay tuned to @RockyTopInsider on X for more Tennessee Basketball news, notes, coverage, and live updates of the game against 3-seed Virginia.
