Start time, TV info announced Tennessee's Sweet Sixteen game vs. Florida Atlantic
No. 4-seed Tennessee (25-10) will face No. 9 Florida Atlantic (34-3) on Thursday in the Sweet Sixteen at Madison Square Garden. The NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal game will tipoff at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by TBS.
The Vols advanced out of Orlando with wins over Louisiana on Thursday and Duke on Saturday. FAU beat Memphis on a layup with 2.5 seconds left Friday night, then advanced past No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson, fresh off its upset of No. 1-seed Purdue, on Sunday night in Columbus.
Michigan State and Kanas State will play the early game Thursday, a 6:30 p.m. ET start on TBS. Arkansas and UConn play at 7:15 p.m. ET on CBS and Gonzaga-TCU winner will face UCLA at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS.
Friday’s schedule starts with San Diego State vs. Alabama at 6:30 p.m. ET on TBS, Miami-Houston at 7:15 p.m. ET on CBS, Princeton-Creighton at 9 p.m. ET on TBS and Xavier-Texas at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS.
Tennessee is in the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth time in program history and the second time under head coach Rick Barnes. The winner between the Vols and FAU will advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Tennessee as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament
Tennessee has been a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament three times previously. The Vols in 1981, when the tournament had 48 teams, beat No. 5-seed VCU 58-56 in overtime, then lost to No. 1-seed Virginia 62-48 in the second round.
In 1999, Tennessee beat No. 13 Delaware 62-52 in the first round, then lost No. 12 Southwest Missouri State 81-51 in the second round. The Vols went to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed in 2000, beating No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette (63-58) in the first round and UConn (65-51) in the second round. No. 8 North Carolina beat Tennessee 74-69 in the round of sixteen.
The Vols in the NCAA Tournament
Tennessee has been to the NCAA Tournament 24 times in program history and has a 23-25 overall record in the tournament. The Vols have been to the Elite Eight once (2010) and will be making their ninth trip to the Sweet Sixteen eight times (1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2019 and 2023). There have been 18 appearances for Tennessee in the round of 32.
The Vols are 1-8 in the Round of 16, with the lone win coming against No. 2-seed Ohio State in St. Louis in 2010. Tennessee’s Sweet Sixteen losses came against Dayton (1967), Virginia (1981), North Carolina (2000), Ohio State (2007), Louisville (2008), Michigan (2014) and Purdue (2019).
Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes
Rick Barnes is 27-26 overall in 26 previous trips to the NCAA Tournament, dating back to 1989. He’s taken the Vols to five straight tournaments after missing the postseason in his first two seasons at Tennessee and COVID cancelling the 2020 tournament. Barnes is 5-4 in NCAA Tournament games at Tennessee.
The Vols were a No. 3 seed in 2018, but lost to No. 11 Loyola-Chicago in the second round. Tennessee was a No. 2 seed in 2019, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 3 Purdue, and was a No. 5 seed in 2021, losing to No. 12 Oregon State in the first round. The Vols were a No. 3 a year ago, losing to No. 11 Michigan in the second round.
