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SEC Tournament: Tennessee Vols have a favorable road to championship

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 13: Tennessee Volunteers players react from the bench in the second half of a game against the Texas A
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 13: Tennessee Volunteers players react from the bench in the second half of a game against the Texas A /
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Tennessee basketball is on the right side of the SEC Tournament. It gives the Volunteers a very favorable road to win the conference championship.

Related Story: A look at the SEC Tournament with predictions

Their history in the SEC Tournament is not a great one. But after claiming the conference co-championship for the regular season despite losing the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Auburn Tigers, Tennessee basketball is in great position to win this title.

Rick Barnes’s team got a great draw in this year’s tournament bracket. And it’s not just because of the fact that they don’t have to play until Friday night at 7 p.m.

If you look at the bracket here, they avoid all the tough teams until Sunday. The Vols get to be on the side of the bracket opposite the three teams who will likely be the toughest outs in the tourney: Auburn, who is a No. 1 seed, the Kentucky Wildcats, who are the most talented team in the conference, and the Missouri Tigers, who are at full strength for the first time this year and are all but hosting the tournament in St. Louis.

Tennessee’s first game in the SEC Tournament will be against the winner between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and LSU Tigers. The Vols beat both teams by over 20 points in the regular season. In fact, they just recently did that to Mississippi State on the road.

Should they win, they will make it to Saturday. Doing that alone is a major rarity for Rocky Top. But if they do, their most likely opponent will be either the Florida Gators or Arkansas Razorbacks, unless the South Carolina Gamecocks or Ole Miss Rebels go on a Cinderella run.

Playing Florida or Arkansas is a lot trickier. They lost to Arkansas and barely beat Florida.

I have them losing to the Hogs in our SEC Tournament predictions that Saturday. Mike Anderson’s team is great at home and at neutral sites, and playing in St. Louis for them is like playing at a neutral site with home tendencies.

However, Tennessee has a great chance against either team, despite my prediction. It took three guys fouling out and overtime for them to lose to Arkansas. And despite struggling, they can still beat Florida. Also, playing in St. Louis significantly favors the Vols when it comes to home-court advantage.

So despite my prediction, the Vols still have a much better chance that Saturday than they would have on the other side. Arkansas and Florida are much more desirable than Kentucky, Missouri or Auburn.

Yes, they did sweep Kentucky this year. But the Wildcats always turn it on in the SEC Tournament. And they have more of a home-court advantage coming from Lexington than Tennessee does.

Mizzou playing in St. Louis and potentially getting Michael Porter Jr. back makes them even more deadly. And of course, Auburn is Auburn this year.

Next: 10 Vols who give Pruitt a chance to win early

Simply put, Tennessee basketball could not have asked for a better draw in the SEC Tournament. Only one team on their side of the bracket beat them all year, and that was a road loss for the Vols in overtime. As a result, if they are going to break their tournament curse, this is the year to do it.

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