Tennessee basketball: Vols 5 toughest potential matchups in NCAA Tournament’s South Region

To be honest with you, Tennessee basketball could not have gotten a better draw in the NCAA Tournament. Everybody knows that the Virginia Cavaliers have a horrible history in the Big Dance under Tony Bennett. They were the first No. 1 seed ever to lose a first-round game last year, after all. But it goes deeper than that.

Virginia’s heavy focus on defense, while admirable, has never been a winning strategy in the NCAA Tournament. The fact is they will always run into some red-hot team among their six games, and there is no defense for a red-hot shooting team. It’s why other coaches like Gene Keady and Jamie Dixon were never successful NCAA Tournament coaches.

Offense has to show up at some point. However, taking all that into account, it’s the law of averages that keeps a team like Virginia from winning. When you face them head to head, though, it doesn’t mean the law of averages will apply to you. So if the Vols come across Virginia, which would happen in the Elite Eight, will they have one of their red-hot shooting performances?

It’s likely UVA will run into somebody who has one. But that doesn’t mean Tennessee will be that team if they meet, and this is why it’s a tough matchup. Beating Virginia requires a red-hot shooting game, and the Vols can go ice-cold sometimes. Even if they are just hitting average, it won’t be enough.

This is one game in which Rick Barnes can’t rely on Grant Williams to take over. He has to hope Admiral Schofield is having one of his hot outside shooting games, and he needs two of three to be on among Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner. Otherwise, the Vols have no chance. But that is still a real possibility, which is why UVA is not the toughest matchup.