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March Madness 2022: Five reasons Tennessee Vols could lose to Longwood Lancers in NCAA Tournament

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 11, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) looks to pass the ball in the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Amelie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) looks to pass the ball in the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Amelie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 5, 2022; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Uros Plavsic (33) looks on during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2022; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Uros Plavsic (33) looks on during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

Upsets are a common part of March Madness. With the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 set to begin today, you can bet that there will be a litany of upsets the first weekend that mess up half the brackets out there. For better or for worse, it’s what makes these three weeks of college basketball, and particularly this week, so much fun.

However, Tennessee basketball fans obviously don’t want to see the Vols as one of those victims. UT is a No. 3 seed and has a very real shot at the Final Four after winning the SEC Tournament Championship and being on a seven-game winning streak. Their first opponent, the No. 14 seed Longwood Lancers, are the Big South Champions.

The last time Rocky Top faced the Big South Champion, it was in 2006. They were a No. 2 seed then and needed a last-second shot from Chris Lofton to beat the Winthrop Eagles, so an upset is possible. Here are five reasons Longwood could send UT home early in March Madness.

5. Vols’ dry spells on offense

For all of the great things about this team, it still has a tendency to go long stretches of being really bad on offense. Honestly, that makes it similar to the last great Vols team led by Rick Barnes, back in 2018-2019. In both cases, it’s hard to say any lead is safe because the Vols could just go ice-cold. They can get red-hot too.

What’s unclear is which one will happen and when. Remember, when they lost 52-51 at the Texas Longhorns back in February, they were down 51-35 with five minutes to go before going off. That’s what they do. They play really bad for long stretches and then get hot.

Against the offensive firepower of Longwood, that’s something that could cost them. It’s going to happen, and if Longwood is feeling it offensively at that particular moment, you could be looking at some sort of run that’s +20 in favor of the Lancers. This is a real danger, and it could result in one of the biggest first-round March Madness upsets.

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