Tennessee Vols Top 30 Memorable Moments of the Adidas Era
25. Men’s Basketball Reaches the Sweet Sixteen in 2000
Now this one had the Tennessee Vols fan base on the highest of highs about the basketball program at the time. They had just punched their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But to add to the excitement, the top three seeds in their bracket had all gone down in the first weekend, leaving many Vols fans psyched about the chance to reach their first Final Four.
Led by studs such as Tony Harris, Vincent Yarbrough, C.J. Black, and Isiah Victor along with very skilled freshmen in Ron Slay, Marcus Haislip, and Jon Higgins, the team had already reached unprecedented heights with 26 wins. A 26-6 record and a chance at the Final Four was enough to have the whole fan base stoked about Tennessee basketball.
And the best part was there was no pressure because the team was set to return pretty much everybody the next year, which made things icing on the cake. As a result, this Sweet Sixteen appearance is another one that we look back on with bittersweet feelings.
Yes, a week later, the Vols blew a late lead to No. 8 seed North Carolina, who had far lesser talent at the time, to get knocked out. But for half a week leading up, fans could not have been happier about the program. That makes this one of the high moments of the Adidas era.
Next: #24: 2007 Men's Basketball Sweet Sixteen