Pearl: Vols have toughest possible path to Final Four
But instead of drawing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as they were hoping, the Vols received a No. 2 seed in a region shared by overall No. 1 North Carolina.
‘I think the East is very, very strong,’ coach Bruce Pearl said. ‘Carolina has clearly been named the No. 1 seed in the tournament. That already makes it in and of itself the toughest road to the Final Four.’
Tennessee (29-4) has made a lot of history this season. The Vols’ 29 wins are the most in team history, and the team earned its first ever No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll.
The Vols also won their first outright Southeastern Conference regular season title since 1967.
Pearl had preached to his team that earning a top seed in the NCAA tournament would greatly improve its chances at creating a little more history: reaching the Final Four for the first time.
As the fourth-ranked team heading into the SEC tournament, Tennessee knew that it might take winning or at least playing for the SEC tournament championship to solidify a top seed.
But in a tournament disrupted by a tornado, the Vols were upset by Arkansas 92-91 in the SEC semifinals. The loss dropped them one spot in the AP poll to No. 5.
‘Losing to Arkansas and then not getting the No. 1 seed. Eighteen hours later, I can’t make that pain go away. The kids are disappointed,’ Pearl said.
‘But, we will be ready to play on Friday.’
Tennessee will face No. 15 seed American (21-11) in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. American won the Patriot League championship. If the Vols win, they would face either No. 7 seed Butler or No. 10 South Alabama on Sunday.
Pearl said any of the first- and second-round matchups could upset Tennessee. The Patriot League has gone 2-1 in the first round in the last three tournaments, while Butler beat Tennessee last year.
As described by Pearl, South Alabama is a team that’s ‘just stupid-athletic and deep.’
Don’t worry about the Vols’ attitudes about missing out on a top seed. They’re just ready to play some more.
‘It may help a little bit, but at the end of the day, the whole respect thing goes out of the window,’ forward Duke Crews said of the team’s motivation as a No. 2 seed. ‘It’s about basketball right now and who wants it more.’
If the site of the first two games is a factor, Tennessee should feel pretty good. The Vols won two NCAA games in Birmingham in 2000 to make one of their only two trips to the regional semifinals.
NCAA selection committee chair Tom O’Connor, the athletic director at George Mason, told ESPN.com that the site was indeed a factor in the committee’s decision to place Tennessee in the East Region, which will hold its semifinals in Charlotte, N.C.
‘The first eight teams in the country were really strong teams, and we looked at them as teams that could win the national championship. We tried to balance the top four lines in each region, and it made geographic sense to have Tennessee in Charlotte,’ O’Connor told ESPN.com.
If Tennessee reaches the regional semifinals, the team could face a number of tough matchups in a bracket that also includes No. 3 seed Louisville and No. 4 Washington State.
It would only take reaching the regional finals for the Vols to make history.
‘We want to keep making history,’ Pearl said. ‘We want to go farther than we’ve gone. We’d like to make another step.’
Or maybe two.
AP men’s POll; Tournament tv schedule
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ final college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 16, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Rec Pts Pvs
1. North Carolina (53) 32-2 1,779 1
2. Memphis (13) 33-1 1,710 2
3. UCLA (5) 31-3 1,674 3
4. Kansas (1) 31-3 1,596 5
5. Tennessee 29-4 1,449 4
6. Wisconsin 29-4 1,412 8
7. Texas 28-6 1,390 6
8. Georgetown 27-5 1,271 9
9. Duke 27-5 1,223 7
10. Stanford 26-7 1,122 11
11. Butler 29-3 1,004 12
12. Xavier 27-6 957 10
13. Louisville 24-8 894 13
14. Drake 28-4 794 16
15. Notre Dame 24-7 672 14
16. Connecticut 24-8 670 15
17. Pittsburgh 26-9 586 ‘
18. Michigan St. 25-8 523 19
19. Vanderbilt 26-7 493 18
20. Purdue 24-8 418 17
21. Washington St. 24-8 377 21
22. Clemson 24-9 364 ‘
23. Davidson 26-6 253 23
24. Gonzaga 25-7 232 20
25. Marquette 24-9 174 25
Others receiving votes: Indiana 135, Southern Cal 70, BYU 49, UNLV 37, Kent St. 26, Arkansas 11, West Virginia 7, Cornell 6, Mississippi St. 4, Texas A&M 4, W. Kentucky 4, Saint Mary’s, Calif. 3, Georgia 2, Saint Joseph’s 2, Boise St. 1, South Alabama 1, UMBC 1.
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Television broadcast times for Thursday and Friday’s NCAA men’s tournament games on CBS (games broadcast subject to be changed according to network preferences; team seed in parentheses; all times central):
Thursday’s games
11:20 a.m. Georgia (14) vs Xavier (3)
11:25 a.m. Portland State (16) vs Kansas (1)
11:30 a.m. Temple (12) vs Michigan St (5)
1:30 p.m. Kentucky (11) vs Marquette (6)
1:40 p.m. Baylor (11) vs Purdue (6)
1:45 p.m. Kent State (9) vs UNLV (8)
1:50 p.m. Oral Roberts (13) vs Pittsburgh (4)
3:40 p.m. Cornell (14) vs Stanford (3)
6:10 p.m. Kansas State (11) vs USC (6)
6:10 p.m. Belmont (15) vs Duke (2)
6:20 p.m. Winthrop (13) vs Washington St (4)
6:25 p.m. Texas A&M (9) vs BYU (8)
8:30 p.m. Fullerton (14) vs Wisconsin (3)
8:30 p.m. Arizona (10) vs West Virginia (7)
8:40 p.m. George Mason (12) vs Notre Dame (5)
8:40 p.m. Miss. Valley St (16) vs UCLA (1)
Friday’s games
11:15 a.m. American (15) vs Tennessee (2)
11:25 a.m. Davidson (10) vs Gonzaga (7)
11:30 a.m. Saint Mary’s (10) vs Miami (7)
11:30 a.m. Western Kentucky (12) vs Drake (5)
1:30 p.m. South Alabama (10) vs Butler (7)
1:35 p.m. UMBC (15) vs Georgetown (2)
1:45 p.m. San Diego (13) vs UCONN (4)
1:50 p.m. Austin Peay (15) vs Texas (2)
6:10 p.m. St. Joseph’s (11) vs Oklahoma (6)
6:20 p.m. Siena (13) vs Vanderbilt (4)
6:25 p.m. Oregon (9) vs Mississippi State (8)
8:30 p.m. Arkansas (9) vs Indiana (8)
8:30 p.m. Boise State (14) vs Louisville (3)
8:40 p.m. Villanova (12) vs Clemson (5)
8:40 p.m. UT-Arlington (16) vs Memphis (1)