The Tennessee Vols have some LOFTY expectations on them heading into the NCAA Tournament

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica discusses what the Tennessee Vols need to do in the NCAA Tournament.

Transcript

00:00March Madness is here.

00:01The NCAA tournament bracket is set and the Tennessee volunteers have a very

00:07interesting path forward in the tournament.

00:10But today we're going to talk about what constitutes success for Tennessee

00:15in 2025 in the NCAA tournament.

00:21Hey, Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.

00:25So Tennessee is the two seed in the Midwest region matched up with 15 seed

00:31Wofford taking on the Terriers to open things up in the round of 64 after the

00:36Vols lost in the SEC championship game against Florida following an impressive

00:42win in the semifinal against the team that turned out to be the number one

00:46overall seed in the NCAA tournament, the Auburn Tigers.

00:50As you look at where Tennessee has landed in this bracket, a couple of

00:54things stick out.

00:55Number one, Tennessee fans don't have to go far.

00:58The Vols are playing in Lexington on the opening weekend, just over an hour

01:04drive from Knoxville.

01:05Tennessee will be in a very familiar venue in Rupp Arena to play Wofford and

01:11then either UCLA or Utah State.

01:14If it is chalk and UCLA is the team that moves into the second round to play

01:19Tennessee, then the Vols will be going up against the team that almost swiped

01:24away Rick Barnes a few years ago when UCLA tried to hire Barnes away and then

01:29Tennessee ad Phillip Fulmer was the one that had to talk out a contract extension

01:35to keep Barnes in Knoxville.

01:37You could argue it was Fulmer's best contribution for Tennessee as of course

01:42an athletic director, not as a football coach.

01:45If Tennessee is able to get the win against UCLA, they would likely be playing

01:50one of two teams, Kentucky or Illinois.

01:54Obviously that Kentucky matchup is one to keep an eye on if it does happen in

01:58the sweet 16, as it will be the third matchup against the cats this season.

02:03Tennessee is Owen two against Kentucky in the 2024 25 campaign.

02:08And then of course, there's Illinois who Tennessee faced during the

02:11non-conference slate and defeated on a coast to coast buzzer beating

02:15layup by Jordan Gainey.

02:17Either way, there are interesting matchups all around and Tennessee could

02:21very well be on a crash course with number one seed Houston in the Midwest

02:26region in the elite eight.

02:28So what would constitute success for the Vols in this tournament?

02:32In my opinion, it might be a lead eight or bust for the Tennessee Vols.

02:36The worst case scenario for Tennessee obviously would be to get bounced in

02:41the opening weekend in the first or second round.

02:44I don't think we can say that the worst case scenario is to lose on opening

02:48weekend and then say that the sweet 16 would constitute success just by

02:53winning one extra game to me, sweet 16 needs to be the absolute baseline,

02:58but elite eight should be the expectation for Tennessee to match the

03:03best run it has ever made in the NCAA tournament, the run that they made

03:07just last season.

03:08Of course with Dalton connect at the helm.

03:11Now, of course, the Vols are in pursuit of their first final four in men's

03:15basketball history, but Tennessee as a two seed, one of the best teams in

03:19the country, a team that spent five weeks as the number one team in the

03:23country, according to the AP poll, a team that was knocking on the door of

03:28a one seed throughout the course of the regular season.

03:31The expectation should absolutely be a lead eight or further, especially

03:36given the matchups that could stack up in front of Tennessee.

03:40And some of them could be pretty favorable for the Vols.

03:43It is March madness.

03:45Anything can happen.

03:46It's about survive and advance in for Tennessee for us to truly consider

03:51this a successful season.

03:53I think that tournament has to end up at least in the elite eight for the Vols.

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