After nearly a week off, Tennessee Basketball is back in action Friday afternoon for its first SEC Tournament game. The Vols, ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, will take on the Texas Longhorns in the Quarterfinals of the event as the No. 4 seed.
Rick Barnes’ team comes into the game having closed out the regular season with a 25-6 record and 12-6 SEC record. In their most recent outing, they beat the South Carolina Gamecocks 75-65 at home last Saturday on Senior Day, which followed a close loss to the Ole Miss Rebels on the road earlier in the week.
Texas, the No. 14 seed in the tournament after finishing the regular season 6-12 in league play, comes into the game with a 19-14 record overall. Rodney Terry’s team beat the Vanderbilt Commodores Wednesday and the Texas A&M Aggies in double-overtime Thursday to reach the Quarterfinals. Here is all the information you need for the matchup.
Tennessee Volunteers vs. Texas Longhorns
When: Friday, March 14
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
TV: ESPN
Live stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Vol Network (Click here for affiliates); Longhorn Radio Network (Click here for affiliates)
Listen online: UTSports; The Varsity Network via TexasLonghorns.com
These two teams met once earlier in the year, with the Vols winning 74-70 in Austin. Obviously, there’s a deep connection between the two schools, as Barnes coached at Texas from 1998 through 2015, when he was fired. Tennessee Basketball hired him within a week of him losing his job.
It’s also Texas’ first year in the SEC. By beating A&M, a higher-seeded and ranked team on Thursday, they may have clinched an NCAA Tournament bid, giving the SEC potentially 14 teams. That depends, however, on how much the Selection Committee values conference tournament games.
Recent seasons have seen the committee ignore these games when it comes to seeding and at-large bids. That calls into question whether a team like the Vols, a lock for March Madness who will be no lower than a 3-seed, should even attempt to win a game in the event. They lost on Friday last year and still got a 2-seed.
The winner of this game will advance to face the Auburn Tigers in the semifinals Saturday. Auburn beat Ole Miss 62-57 in a game that wrapped up less than half an hour before these two teams were scheduled to face off against each other. Texas needs it more, but UT could still see something to play for.
