The Tennessee basketball team has been far more consistent over the past six weeks, with its only two losses coming in brutal fashion against Kentucky. Since that most recent setback, the Vols have bounced back with a two-game win streak, defeating Mississippi State, albeit shaky, and then picking up a convincing win on Valentine's Day against LSU.
On Wednesday night, Tennessee has a huge matchup against a solid Oklahoma team. Sure, the Sooners have had a down year, but you cannot take them for granted. They are a really good offensive team, and they will look to get the Vols in a track meet. I don't suspect the Vols will have a hard time scoring unless they are ice cold from the field, but defensively, they will need to be on point with their rotations, ball screen coverage, and defending the three-point line.
The key factor here is Tennessee staying focused on the task at hand and not looking ahead to Saturday’s rivalry clash with Vanderbilt. One lapse, and Oklahoma could shock the Vols. Rick Barnes already has some bad news with JP Estella doubtful for the matchup, so it just makes it even more crucial that the Vols' rotation is on tonight. This is the perfect spot for the Sooners to sneak up on the Vols, as the Vandy game on Saturday is going to be crazy.
Tennessee cannot get caught in a trap game tonight
The Vols are hovering right around a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament right now. If they do somehow get upset tonight, it could be very detrimental to their seeding. A loss here would count as a Quad 2 defeat, which isn’t ideal for a team with the hopes of moving into a top-four seed. The Vols have picked up some quality wins this season, but with seven losses already, another Quad 2 loss would be far from helpful.
Bracket Matrix, a service that does a consensus ranking of all the college basketball brackets, has the Vols as the "top-rated" No. 6 seed. Oklahoma doesn't even show up as a bubble team, so a loss would be very crucial.