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NCAA Tournament: Remembering Tennessee basketball’s last No. 5 seed in 2007

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 16: Dane Bradshaw #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers goes in for a layup against the Long Beach State 49ers during the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 16, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 16: Dane Bradshaw #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers goes in for a layup against the Long Beach State 49ers during the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 16, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee forward Duke Crews shoots over Ole Miss forward Dwayne Curtis at the Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Mississippi on January 24, 2007. Ole Miss defeated Tennessee 83-69. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/WireImage)
Tennessee forward Duke Crews shoots over Ole Miss forward Dwayne Curtis at the Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Mississippi on January 24, 2007. Ole Miss defeated Tennessee 83-69. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/WireImage) /

For the first time since 2007 and just the second time in history, Tennessee basketball enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed. The last time the Vols earned that seed, they had one of the most heartbreaking endings to a season in school history.

However, that year is still remembered fondly by fans on Rocky Top, as it was Bruce Pearl’s second year with a program that he had on the rise at the time and moving away from the dark years of Buzz Peterson. This was the era of Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Wayne Chism.

Let’s take a look back at Tennessee basketball’s NCAA Tournament run that year as a No. 5 seed. We’ll start things off by looking at how they ended up with that seeding in the Big Dance to begin with before breaking down each game.

How they got there

The year before, Pearl’s first year, UT made its first NCAA Tournament in five years as a No. 2 seed before being upset in the second round by the Wichita State Shockers. Pearl’s splash first year resulted in a top 10 recruiting class with the arrival of five-stars Duke Crews and Ramar Smith along with Chism, a four-star. Lofton, Bradshaw and JaJuan Smith were the key returners.The

However, C.J. Watson and Andre Patterson, two key starters, graduated, as did backup Stanley Asumnu. Center Major Wingate was then dismissed. Replacing that talent made for an up and down season. The Vols had quality wins over the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Memphis Tigers, Rick Barnes’ Texas Longhorns, Kentucky Wildcats and eventual national champion Florida Gators.

At the same time, they couldn’t buy a road win, losing their first six road games in SEC. They won their last two, though, and went undefeated at home. With the No. 1 ranked strength of schedule nationally, even a Thursday exit in the SEC Tournament couldn’t keep them from being a favorable seed at 22-10 on the year.

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