Is Tennessee basketball a national title contender? A second-weekend threat? Can the Vols even survive the first round?
ESPN looked to answer these questions across the sport the best it could at this point in the season by placing 47 teams on a tier list. The options from top to bottom were national championship favorites, Final Four contenders, second-weekend threats, Final Four or first-round exit?, can win a game and potential Cinderellas.
In the tier list, Tennessee clocked in under the ‘Final Four or first-round exit?’ category. This group is categorized as anomalies of the sport. Despite it being nearly February, it’s still tough to put your finger on what these teams will do in March Madness.
The Vols join St. John’s, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina on the tier.
“Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee has typically had elite defenses and been prone to droughts offensively,” Jeff Borzello wrote. “Not this season’s team — although neither unit has been particularly impressive in SEC play. There’s still potential with Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament leading the way, and the Vols showed it at Alabama last weekend. And if the defense turns around to play at the level of previous Barnes-coached teams, suddenly the Vols can go toe-to-toe with most teams in the country.”
More From RTI: What Steven Pearl Said About Returning To Alma Mater Tennessee As Auburn Head Coach
Next, Tennessee will host former Vols player Steven Pearl, who is now the head coach of Auburn. He is the son of former UT coach Bruce Pearl, who retired just before the season.
“I don’t want to make it about me,” Steven Pearl said before the game. “I’ve been there before as an assistant, so I don’t think the emotions will be much different. I played five years there and gave all my blood, sweat and tears to that university, and had a lot of great times and won a lot of games.
“There’s so many things that happened at Tennessee that have shaped my life to what it is today, so I’m eternally grateful. I would like a Letterman’s jacket at some point, because I still haven’t gotten that, but my years there were some of the best of my life personally, because it shaped the man I am today and a lot of things kind of fell in place for me to be where I’m at, in this chair.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN. Tennessee is holding its ‘checker’ game, as well, with fans able to find which color their section is here.
