Tennessee basketball: Vols apart of another South Region full of upsets

After the first two days of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Tennessee basketball finds themselves in the upset bracket, again.

As soon as the 2019 NCAA Tournament bracket was released, we thought Tennessee basketball’s path to a Final Four was very favorable. However, it was hit or miss depending on who you talked to.

A lot of the national media picked the Vols to a Final Four, and even some picked them to make an appearance in the National Championship Game.

Even still, some members of Vol nation lost their minds at the thought of playing the Cincinnati in Ohio, basically a home game for the Bearcats. How did that turn out?

While I don’t necessarily consider a 7-10 matchup an upset, if you go strictly off seeds it is, so there is your first upset at the South Region.

Remember last year’s South Region? It might have produced most upsets in the tournament’s history. In fact, I dare someone to challenge that claim.

And, what’s crazy is the South was loaded with powerhouses, or at least that’s what our eyes told us.

Virginia was the number one overall seed and lost to the 16th seed UMBC; something that has never happened in tournament history. Moreover, the game wasn’t even close UMBC won by 20 points.

Moving on down the bracket, the No.9 seeded Kansas State Wildcats beat Creighton in the first round, but again is that really an upset? The Wildcats did go on a run and ended up beating the No.5 seeded Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16.

The No.4 seeded Arizona Wildcats was also apart of the South Region’s chaos. A lot of people thought Arizona had a chance to make a Final Four and even maybe a National Championship, but they fell to a Buffalo squad in the first round.

Finally, Loyola-Chicago, who the Vols know all too well, went on a run to the Final Four beating Miami (FL), Tennessee, Nevada, and Kansas State.

Fast forward to this year, the upsets aren’t as crazy, but Tennessee’s path is growing easier each game.

No, Virginia didn’t lose to a No.16 again, but there was a moment from everyone watching the game that went like, “this can’t happen again, can it?” The Cavaliers were down by 14 points in the first half before they settled down and started playing their game.

Both No.12 Oregon and No.13 UC Irvine advanced to play each other in the second round for a chance at a Sweet 16. And, while the Vols wouldn’t play either team until the Elite Eight, it just goes to show anything can happen, and it’s happening in the South again.

Finally, as we mentioned earlier, Tennessee’s next opponent is the Iowa Hawkeyes who took down the Cincinnati Bearcats. Maybe the two teams were seeded wrong, or perhaps it’s just March, but you have to like the Vols chances to make a Sweet 16.

Can the Vols stay away from the upsets? Or will Tennessee head home in the first weekend for the second straight season? We will find out tomorrow afternoon around 2:00 pm EST once the game is over.