Breaking down Tennessee's dream, nightmare scenarios in NCAA Tournament
After losing two games in a row, Tennessee is ready to rattle off six straight victories. On Monday, On3’s James Fletcher III revealed his confidence level in the Volunteers.
“This is going to be an interesting run for Tennessee,” Fletcher said. “I really like this team. We talked about what’s different about this team, but they gave their fans an absolute heart attack in the SEC Tournament when the offense did not show up.
“I like Tennessee’s path here. I think that they can knock off Texas. I think they advance to that round. I think they’d have a really fun matchup against Creighton. And then from there, we talked about it, Purdue is going to have to prove it on that other side of the bracket.”
Tennessee’s opening matchup in the tournament is against No. 15 seed St. Peter’s, who famously knocked off Kentucky in the 2021-22 Tournament. However, this year’s team is a far cry from that Cinderella story.
St. Peter’s is one of the worst shooting teams in the country, only connecting on 39.7% of their attempts from the field and 33.2% of their attempts from beyond the arc. The Peacocks instead rely on their pesky defense to win them games.
Early trouble ahead for Tennessee?
Fletcher expects Tennessee to handily defeat St. Peter’s. However, he foresees potential trouble in the Round of 32.
“If I am Tennessee, the only thing that I am hoping, the one thing that I want out of this tournament is to avoid Virginia,” Fletcher said. “I don’t know if Virginia can beat Colorado State because I think Colorado State is probably a better basketball team. But if they somehow do, Tony Bennett’s able to work some magic and then he’s able to knock off Texas, I think that Tennessee is in serious trouble.
“Ryan Dunn is the best defender in college basketball and you put him on Dalton Knecht — watch what this Tennessee offense does. I would be very scared if I was a Tennessee fan of what the offense looks like when Ryan Dunn is guarding Dalton Knecht, because he’s an NBA-level defender already.”
In UT’s stunning loss to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals, Tennessee fans learned all too well what the team’s offense looks like without Knecht. The SEC Player of the Year went 4-17 from the field in the loss, and the Volunteers produced their lowest scoring output of the season.
Luckily for the Rocky Top faithful, Fletcher believes Tennessee will never have to face off against Virginia. With a bit of luck, Tennessee could reach its first Final Four in program history.