Tennessee Basketball will officially begin its NCAA Tournament run Friday afternoon. The 6-seed Vols will take on 11-seed Miami (Ohio) in a first-round matchup from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
The 6/11 game hasn’t been too kind to the favorites in the tournament so far. With all three other 6/11 games taking place on Thursday, two of the six-seeds lost to their 11-seed counterpart. 11-seed VCU defeated 6-seed North Carolina by a score of 82-76, while 11-seed Texas defeated BYU by a score of 78-71. The only six-seed that won on Thursday was Louisville in an 83-79 win over 11-seed South Florida.
That all being said, Tennessee is the favorite heading into Friday’s game. The Vols are a point favorite heading into their game against the Redhawks, with the Tennessee moneyline set at .
Here’s a look at the full betting odds for the Tennessee-Miami (OH) matchup:
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Miami (OH) was a participant in the First Four round, taking down 11-seed SMU to advance to the field of 64 and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks put together one heck of an offensive showing in their 89-79 win over the Mustangs. Miami knocked down 16 three-pointers, recorded 20 assists, and only turned the ball over four times.
According to OptaSTATS, Miami-Ohio is the first team in NCAA Tournament history to do all of the following in a single game: score 80+ points, record 20+ assists, make 15+ three-pointers, and record fewer than five turnovers.
Miami-Ohio had four double-digit scorers, with Eian Elmer going for 23 points, Brant Byers going for 19 points, Luke Skaljac recording 17 points, and Almar Atlason tallying 12 points. Elmer, Byers, and Skaljac combined to do the most damage from range, going 13-of-23 from three-point range.
“Certainly, a great deal of respect for Miami of Ohio,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said on Thursday. “Any team that wins 30-plus games, are extremely well coached, mentally tough, play great basketball. We know we have a challenge in front of us.”
6-seed Tennessee will take on 11-seed Miami (OH) at 4:25 p.m. ET on TBS. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game from Philadelphia, PA.
