NCAA Tournament 2021: Vols have red-hot foes as No. 5 seed in Midwest Region

If Tennessee basketball is going to advance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the Vols will have to get through quite a few teams who got on a roll at the end of the season. All three other teams in their first weekend bracket either won their conference tournament or reached their tournament championship game.

At 18-8, Rick Barnes’ team will start things off as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region against the No. 12 seed Oregon State Beavers Friday. Led by seventh-year head coach Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State won the Pac-12 Tournament Championship as a No. 5 seed and on a 17-12 record, upsetting the UCLA Bruins, Oregon Ducks and Colorado Buffaloes in the process.

The winner of that game will take on the winner between the No. 13 seed Liberty Flames and No. 4 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 on Sunday. Both Liberty and Oklahoma State reached their conference tournament championship games.

Liberty won the Atlantic Sun regular season and tournament championship, entering the Big Dance as a dangerous team with a 23-5 record under Ritchie McKay, who is in his sixth consecutive year and eighth year overall coaching the program. They are currently on a 12-game winning streak.

Oklahoma State, meanwhile, led by fourth-year head coach Mike Boynton, lost by five to the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game. They have won three of their last four and have a 20-8 record.

So if the Vols are going to reach the Sweet 16, they have to beat a Power Five conference tournament champion and either a mid-major conference tournament champion or a Power Five conference tournament championship runner-up. Simply put, all of their first-weekend opponents in the NCAA Tournament are peaking at the right time.

Of course, if that wasn’t enough, the Illinois Fighting Illini are the top seed in that region. Led by fourth-year head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois enters March Madness with a 23-6 record after winning the Big Ten Tournament Championship and on a seven-game winning streak with a 91-88 overtime win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday just before the selection show.

Obviously, as the No. 5 seed, Rocky Top would have to face Illinois in the Sweet 16 unless somebody upset them. Who could upset them? Well, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers are the No. 8 seed, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are the No. 9 seed.

Led by 10th-year head coach Porter Moser, Loyola-Chicago is on a six-game winning streak. They enter the tournament as Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament champions with a 24-4 record.

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, enters on an eight-game winning streak and won the ACC Tournament Championship after COVID knocked the Duke Blue Devils and Virginia Cavaliers out. Fifth-year head coach Josh Pastner carries them in with a 17-8 record.

Finally, there are the No. 16 seed Drexel Engineers. Led by fifth-year head coach Zach Spiker, they enter the Big Dance with a 12-7 record and on a four-game winning streak after winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship.

Taking a look at that side of the Midwest Region, UT is the only team to not reach its tournament championship and one of only two teams to not win its tournament championship. As a result, the Vols will have to snap multiple red-hot winning streaks if they are to have any chance at the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. If John Fulkerson can’t go, it’ll be even tougher.