Where does Tennessee's starting five rank among Sweet Sixteen teams
Tennessee basketball is preparing for their Sweet Sixteen matchup against No. 3 Creighton to keep their season alive.
Tennessee is one of 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament, fighting for a shot at a National Championship. Tennessee doesn't have to worry about going through a Cinderella team to advance past the Sweet Sixteen, but they will still have to play one of the hottest teams in the tournament.
It is a truly unique tournament compared to recent years, with all the one- and two-seeds remaining going into the Sweet Sixteen. Our friend Joey Loose over at Busting Brackets ranked the 16 starting lineups remaining in the NCAA Tournament. He ranked each team based solely on their starting five.
Tennessee made the top ten but didn't advance much further than that in the rankings. He had the Vols starting five ranked No. 8 on his list, behind two of the other three remaining teams in the Midwest region.
The Vols fall between No. 2 Arizona and No. 4 Duke in the rankings, which isn't surprising. Tennessee has three great starters, but their two super seniors are bringing the Vols down. Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi have taken a backseat this year and will need to step up in the second weekend of the tournament if they want to keep their season alive.
Tennessee's Sweet Sixteen opponent is Creighton, which comes in at No. 5 in the rankings. Creighton stands ahead of the Vols because of its big three: Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Alexander and Scheierman make up one of the best backcourts in the tournament and shoot threes like they're nothing. They are undoubtedly playmakers and can flip a game on its head, with Kalkbrenner doing the dirty work down low.
The top three starting fives heading into this weekend are Houston at three, Purdue at two, and Connecticut at the top spot. There's no doubt that UCONN is the best team in the tournament right now and a big part of that is because of their starting five.
Tennessee will tip off on Friday at 10:09 PM ET against the Creighton Bluejays. This will be the Vols' opportunity to take down one of the best starting fives remaining in the tournament and advance to the Elite Eight to face Purdue or Gonzaga.