The field of 68 has officially been whittled down to just eight teams left standing in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The remaining eight teams will compete on Saturday and Sunday with a chance to punch their ticket to the Final Four, with the slate of games featuring Iowa-Illinois, Purdue-Arizona, Duke-UConn, and Tennessee-Michigan.
Tennessee, the six-seed in the Midwest Region, is the second-highest seeded team left in the tournament behind only 9-seed Iowa. The Vols took care of business against 11-seed Miami (OH) in the first round and then won upset games against 3-seed Virginia and 2-seed Iowa State in the next two rounds.
Despite the Vols’ two upset wins, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf isn’t leapfrogging Tennessee above any of the other lower-seeded teams. Medcalf ranked all eight teams remaining in the tournament, with Tennessee coming in at the second-to-last spot on the list. The only team that UT is ranked higher than is 9-seed Iowa.
“(Rick Barnes) found Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier in the transfer portal in back-to-back years,” Medcalf writes. “This year, his Vols are the top offensive rebounding team in America. Nate Ament is a projected lottery pick. Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie has been Barnes’ most reliable addition. The formula has resulted in Tennessee’s third consecutive Elite Eight appearance.”
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Tennessee was previously ranked as the third-worst team in the Sweet 16 power rankings, while opponent Iowa State was ranked as the sixth-best team remaining at the time. Now, though, Tennessee is the seventh-ranked team and opponent Michigan is the second-ranked team.
“In Friday’s Sweet 16 win, it held Alabama — which entered the game ranked top three in offensive efficiency — to just 31 shots, 23 of which were 3-pointers,” Medcalf writes. “That’s a by-product of May’s suffocating interior defense, a staple of his best teams. And it’s proof the Wolverines aren’t just tough around the rim on defense; they make opponents think twice about trying to score in the post in the first place.”
As far as the KenPom rankings go, Michigan sits at the top of the list. The Wolverines have the top-ranked defense and the fifth-ranked offense in the nation. Tennessee, meanwhile, is ranked at No. 11 in the country with the 31st-ranked offense and the 11th-ranked defense. The Wolverines are currently a point favorite heading into Sunday’s clash.
(1) Michigan and (6) Tennessee will square off at 2:15 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Basketball coverage this weekend.
