Last season, Mark Pope’s inaugural Kentucky squad swept Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers with two wins during the regular season. The two teams would end up squaring off in the Sweet 16 from Indianapolis, though, and the Vols found a way to eliminate the Wildcats and advance to the Elite Eight.
As it would turn out, there’s once again a path for the two SEC border rivals to meet up in the Sweet 16 in 2026 as well. This also comes after Kentucky went 2-0 against Tennessee during the regular season.
Tennessee and Kentucky are both slotted in the Midwest Region, with the Vols landing as the 6-seed and Kentucky coming in as the 7-seed. A potential third matchup between the two rivals is on the table, but both teams would need a big upset during the second round of action to get there.
Tennessee would need to win its first-round game against either Miami (OH) or SMU, and then would need to upset 3-seed Virginia in the second round on Sunday. Kentucky, meanwhile, would need to handle business against 10-seed Santa Clara on Friday before upsetting 2-seed Iowa State on Sunday.
If all four of those things happen, you’d be looking at a third and final meeting for the two rivals in the Sweet 16 for a second straight season. Last year’s game featured Tennessee as the 2-seed and Kentucky as the 3-seed.
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In the first matchup between the two teams from Knoxville, Kentucky stormed back and won the game in the final seconds. Tennessee held the lead for nearly the entire game, but a strong second-half push from the Wildcats and a collapse from the Vols led to Kentucky taking the lead and winning in the final minute.
Then, in the rematch from Lexington just a few weeks later, a similar thing happened. The two teams traded shots in the early minutes of the game, but Tennessee began to build a lead heading into halftime. A second-half stall paved the way for Kentucky to climb back in, though, and the Wildcats once again took the lead and won in the final stretch.
Tennessee had plenty of chances to win both games, but the Vols just couldn’t get to the finish line with a full 40-minute showing in either contest. Perhaps Tennessee could put it all together in a third and final matchup if both teams end up getting to the Sweet 16 next weekend in Chicago.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Basketball coverage from the NCAA Tournament this week in Philadelphia.
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