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Tennessee basketball: 5 reasons Vols are a lock for the Final Four

By Billy Williford

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 02: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates in the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 02, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 02: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates in the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 02, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

No.4 – AP Player of the Year?

The AP All-American teams don’t come out till the Final Four weekend. So, we won’t know if this point will work in the Vols’ favor, but there is a pretty good chance Grant Williams will be named an AP All-American.

Why is that important to a Final Four run?

Honestly, any team can make a Final Four without a player voted on the AP All-American list, but there has been a trend in recent seasons.

In the past four seasons, 10 of the 16 Final Four teams have had a player on their roster named to one of the AP All-American teams. Here are the six outliers.

2018: Loyola-Chicago and Michigan 

2017: South Carolina 

2016: Villanova and Syracuse

2015: Michigan State

It’s wild that Nova won the National Championship in 2016 without a player named to the first three AP All-American teams.

Circling back to Grant Williams the back-to-back SEC Player of the Year had an outstanding season that helped the Vols reach the No.1 ranking for the second time in program history.

According to KenPom.com, Williams had an offensive rating of 125.3 which ranks 50th in the entire country. He’s 19.0 points per game led the SEC while his 7.6 rebounds per game put him in the top four.

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