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Tennessee basketball’s 2022 SEC Tournament rooting guide

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 9, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey entertains the crowd during the second half against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 9, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey entertains the crowd during the second half against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 2, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman talks to guards Au’Diese Toney (50 Stanley Umude (5) Davonte Davis (40 and JD Notae (1) during a timeout in the second half against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 77-76. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2022; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman talks to guards Au’Diese Toney (50 Stanley Umude (5) Davonte Davis (40 and JD Notae (1) during a timeout in the second half against the LSU Tigers at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 77-76. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Arkansas (4-seed) loses first game

Friday, March 11 at 2 p.m. ET

What happens after the first game remains to be seen, but Tennessee basketball could use the Razorbacks being eliminated. Although the Vols beat them to close out the regular season, that’s more about how good they are at Thompson-Boling Arena, and they nearly blew a 20-point lead.

Eric Musselman’s team is red-hot, and early into their turnaround, they beat LSU on the road, so they are more than capable of handling teams away from home. If they make it to the SEC Tournament Championship, they will have done so likely beating LSU and Auburn.

Given our previous post about LSU, if there’s an Arkansas-LSU matchup Friday, it’s close on who to root for. However, Arkansas has already proven it’s going to be a tougher team to deal with in its current state than LSU, and while that may be good news for Vol fans when they face Auburn, it wouldn’t be good news if they made it to Sunday.

Again, Barnes’ team struggles with tempo on quick turnarounds. Facing Arkansas would be tougher than facing LSU and could be as tough as facing Auburn. They all bring similar problems, except for Florida, which has other issues. As a result, they should root against Arkansas on that side of the bracket.

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