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March Madness: 5 reasons Tennessee Vols could lose to Colgate Raiders

By Caleb Calhoun

SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Matt Langel of the Colgate Raiders looks on during the game against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 25, 2012 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Nate Shron/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Matt Langel of the Colgate Raiders looks on during the game against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 25, 2012 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Nate Shron/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

Tennessee basketball faces Colgate in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Here are five reasons the Volunteers could lose this March Madness game.

The line favors Tennessee basketball significantly as a 17.5-point favorite. It would be a major shock if the No. 2 seeded Vols managed to suffer an upset loss to No. 15 seeded Colgate in the first round of March Madness.

But hey, that’s why they call it March Madness. No. 15 seeds have upset No. 2 seed a few times before, and this year’s NCAA Tournament comes after the first one ever in which a No. 16 seed upset a No. 1 seed.

As a result, Rick Barnes’s team can’t take Colgate lightly. They’ll be throwing away what we consider to be a very navigable bracket in the South Region if that happens. But the Raiders are an NCAA Tournament team for a reason.

In his eighth year as head coach, Matt Langel finally has the program where he wants it. Last year was his first winning season with Colgate, and now that he’s in the NCAA Tournament this year, the school’s patience with him has clearly paid off.

At 24-10 and 13-5 in conference play, the Patriot League Champions are in their first Big Dance since they made it in back to back years in 1995 and 1996. During that time, they were led by head coach Jack Bruen, who won three straight regular season conference titles from 1994 to 1996.

However, Bruen tragically passed away in 1997 midway into the 1997-1998 season due to pancreatic cancer. Now, after two decades of futility, they are back in and hoping to make a major splash in the first round.

There is every reason to believe this underdog program could contribute to why it’s called March Madness. Barnes has got to be ready.Here are five reasons the Colgate Raiders could upset the Tennessee Vols.

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