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NCAA Tournament 2021: Tennessee basketball’s five toughest matchups in Midwest Region

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 14, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 1, 2021; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim gives instruction to his team including forward Marek Dolezaj (21) and forward Robert Braswell (20) and forward Alan Griffin (0) in the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2021; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim gives instruction to his team including forward Marek Dolezaj (21) and forward Robert Braswell (20) and forward Alan Griffin (0) in the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 11 seed

No, this is not your typical Syracuse Orange team. However, never bet against Jim Boeheim. Hey, he did beat the Texas Longhorns and Rick Barnes in Barnes’ only trip to the Final Four the year he won the national title back in 2003. More importantly, Boeheim’s team has all the makings of one that could make Tennessee basketball struggle in the NCAA Tournament.

Ironically, Syracuse face the San Diego State Aztecs in the first round, and luckily for UT, if they met either team, it wouldn’t be until the Elite Eight. However, even as an unranked No. 11 seed that stumbled into the Big Dance, Syracuse is a team the Vols want to avoid.

Ranked No. 15 nationally in steals per game with over eight and a half and No. 17 nationally in blocks per game at just under five, Syracuse plays exactly the type of aggressive pressure defense that UT struggles with. The blocks show they neutralize the Vols’ interior advantage as well. On offense, they hit over eight three-pointers a game.

Then there is their defensive scheme in general. When they aren’t being aggressive, Boeheim runs his complex zone defense that all teams have trouble dealing with. Kermit Davis and the Ole Miss Rebels exploited the Vols’ inability against such defenses with a 52-50 regular season win. Syracuse would give UT tons of trouble, and that makes them a bad matchup.

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