All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee basketball: Scenarios for Vols to win SEC regular season title

By Caleb Calhoun

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images /

3. Vols beat everybody but Kentucky

Now things get a bit more difficult. If Tennessee basketball wins every game but their one game against the Kentucky Wildcats, they’ll still finish 27-4 and 15-3 in the SEC. But the path to an outright SEC Championship or No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament gets a heck of a lot more difficult.

Things don’t change on one front, but they will on another. Losing to Kentucky would give the Vols a permanent head to head disadvantage in a three-way comparison between these two teams. So let’s go ahead and break down what else would have to happen.

-LSU loses two games

So this scenario doesn’t change from our previous one. If the Vols lose another game at all, they need the Tigers to lose two more. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators on the road are the best opportunities with the Texas A&M Aggies at home being another one. But what they need from Kentucky makes this more difficult.

-Kentucky loses two games

Yes, the Vols need the Wildcats to somehow lose two games if UK beats the Vols in Knoxville. We listed their final opponents earlier as being the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Ole Miss Rebels on the road and the Florida Gators at home.

Given the fact that they are injured, you could see them actually closing out the year with losses to Ole Miss and Florida, who is on a roll. As a result, even this scenario doesn’t eliminate the Vols from winning the regular season title outright.

Home/Vols Basketball