All for Tennessee
Fansided

NCAA Tournament: Five reasons Tennessee basketball could lose to Oregon State

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 12, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon State Beavers forward Warith Alatishe (10) celebrates with forward Rodrigue Andela (34) after defeating the Oregon Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon State Beavers forward Warith Alatishe (10) celebrates with forward Rodrigue Andela (34) after defeating the Oregon Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
Feb 27, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Ethan Thompson (5) reacts after a timeout call by the Stanford Cardinal during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Ethan Thompson (5) reacts after a timeout call by the Stanford Cardinal during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Winning streak gives Beavers confidence.

Obviously, the Oregon State Beavers enter the NCAA Tournament on a red-hot winning streak. Seventh-year head coach Wayne Tinkle is in just his second Big Dance with this team thanks to its unlikely run in the Pac-12 Tournament, shocking the UCLA Bruins, Oregon Ducks and Colorado Buffaloes to win the tournament championship.

However, at 17-12 on the year, this team has been on a roll for a while. It actually won three of four games to close out the regular season, winning six of seven overall. The only loss was to that same Oregon team it managed to beat less than a week later.

Meanwhile, Tennessee basketball comes into this game having beaten exactly one team the past three-plus weeks. They beat the Florida Gators twice, once to close out the regular season and another time in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last Saturday.

Part of that was due to scheduling, but it’s still safe to say that Oregon State is in much more of a rhythm right now than Barnes’ team. The Beavers are not the same team that had an 11-11 record at one point. With this red-hot streak, they could beat anybody, and one factor in it leads to our next reason an upset is possible.

Home/Vols Basketball