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March Madness: Remembering Vols 5 Sweet 16 games this century

By Caleb Calhoun

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 27: (L-R) J.P. Prince #30 and Duke Crews #32 of the Tennessee Volunteers sit on the court in the final minutes against the Louisville Cardinals during the 2008 NCAA Men's East Regional Semifinal at Bobcats Arena on March 27, 2008 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cardinals defeated the Volunteers 77-60. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 27: (L-R) J.P. Prince #30 and Duke Crews #32 of the Tennessee Volunteers sit on the court in the final minutes against the Louisville Cardinals during the 2008 NCAA Men's East Regional Semifinal at Bobcats Arena on March 27, 2008 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cardinals defeated the Volunteers 77-60. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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1. 2000 Sweet 16

(8) North Carolina Tar Heels beat (4) Tennessee Volunteers

Final Score: 74-69

Tennessee basketball’s first ever Sweet 16 appearance after March Madness expanded to 64 teams is from such a different era that you wouldn’t even think it’s the same program. That’s how people remember the Jerry Green/Tony Harris Vols.

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For context, Green stumbled into the hire two years prior and took over a haul of recruits Kevin O’Neil brought in. Still, he deserves credit. He got them to their first NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade in 1998. In 1999, he added Vincent Yarbrough, the best recruit the Vols ever secured, and got to the second round of the tournament.

When 1999 came, he was able to add Ron Slay, Jon Higgins and Marcus Haislip. The newfound depth and stack of talent made for a Final Four contending team. They won the SEC regular season championship and made the tournament as a No. 4 seed.

Then luck set in. A series of upsets left the Vols as the highest seed in the Sweet 16 in their region. They were hosting a No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels team that is not the program we know it to be now. Not only that, but they had built a nine-point second half lead. The new program that Green had, despite lack of faith in him, was rolling.

But in this one, UNC would fight back. The Vols always had an issue under Green of shooting way too quickly, which they sometimes do now under Rick Barnes. And they did it here, constantly, to blow their lead. Eventually, UNC fought back to win 74-69 in what was the first of many heartbreaks to lead fans to believe they were cursed from reaching the Elite Eight.

What’s more, a year later, Green oversaw a late season collapse and handled it so poorly that he resigned under pressure. It was a bitter end, but the heartbreak of this game stands out above everything else from that year.

5 advantages Vols have in South Region of Sweet 16. dark. Next

Until Bruce Pearl, though, this was the greatest season in school history. As we said, they went 26-7, won a share of the SEC and swept the eventual national champion runner-up Florida Gators. Had they held on to beat the Tar Heels, Green may have been coaching for quite a few more years. But despite the negative memories of this team, they provided some fond moments. One of those was the first 30 minutes of this game.

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