When Tennessee basketball tips off against the Michigan Wolverines Saturday evening in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, it’ll mark the third meeting between the schools in March Madness. Only the Virginia Cavaliers have played the Vols three times in the Big Dance.
UT and Michigan will be playing for the third time in 11 years as well. However, the Vols are still searching for their first March Madness win against them. The past two didn’t just end Rocky Top’s season. They ended an era.
These two schools first faced off in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 in 2011. UT was a No. 9 seed, and Michigan, then in its fourth year under head coach John Beilein, was the No. 8 seed. Michigan dominated 75-45.
That just so happened to be Bruce Pearl’s last game coaching the Vols. Before that season had started, Pearl got in trouble for lying to the NCAA about a recruiting violation that is no longer even a violation. He was suspended for eight SEC games.
Such distractions resulted in a top 10 caliber team that started 7-0 and reached No. 7 with two top 10 wins falling to 19-14 entering the tournament. This team had two five-star starters in Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson but didn’t look like it.
Things got worse right before March Madness started. Rather than fight for the most successful coach in UT history over such a small violation, Mike Hamilton went on a radio show and all but said Pearl would be fired if the Vols didn’t reach the Sweet 16. Those distractions proved costly and resulted in UT’s blowout.
That game happened on a Friday. Pearl was fired on a Monday. The Michigan loss was a low point in the history of Tennessee basketball beyond just being blown out. However, Pearl wasn’t the first coach to see his UT career end against Michigan. It also happened to his successor.
Cuonzo Martin was hired after Pearl was fired and was tasked with cleaning up the mess that UT was left given the violations. After two NIT years that could be forgiven due to a slow start and then a season-ending injury to his best player, he finally got the Vols to the tournament in 2014.
Rocky Top was a No. 11 seed faced with a play-in game in that tournament but won that and then won their next two games to reach the Sweet 16. It was a superb coaching job, as Martin was staring down a third straight NIT due to another key injury midway through the year and potentially getting fired.
After overcoming all of that, Martin had the Vols facing No. 2 seed Michigan in the 2014 Sweet 16. Michigan built a 15-point lead with under 11 minutes to go in the game, and UT then put up a courageous fight to come back.
Led by Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes, Jeronne Maymon and Josh Richardson, this was a dangerous team that wouldn’t quit. They cut the lead to one with 11 seconds left and then forced a turnover to have the ball with a chance to win the game.
Enter NCAA Tournament officials. Stokes received arguably the worst charging call in Tennessee basketball history going up for the game-winner. Michigan hit one of two free throws after that and secured the win, costing the Vols a shot at the Elite Eight. Two and a half weeks later, Martin left for the Cal Golden Bears.
In 2007, the Vols avenged their 0-2 record against UVA by beating them in the Round of 32 to reach the Sweet 16. Now they’ll be looking to avenge another 0-2 record to a team in March Madness to advance to the Sweet 16. Perhaps this time, facing Michigan won’t end a coaching tenure on Rocky Top.