Tennessee's Best First-Round Matchups
We hear it so often: Matchup means everything in the NCAA Tournament. People are quick to pick an upset just because of what they've seen from the mid-major team. So with that being said, as a projected four seed (possibly three seed), here's who Tennessee should want to draw in the first round.
Princeton
Now that the Tigers have officially clinched their bid by taking down Yale in the Ivy League, we can evaluate them as an NCAA Tournament team. Princeton doesn't shoot the three-ball well and doesn't get second chances, so Tennessee would probably only have to score in the low 60s to win that game.
Individually, the Vols also match up extremely well, as Tosan Evbuomwan would have trouble getting going against Tennessee. Julian Phillips would be a nightmare for Tosan, and then Josiah-Jordan James could match up with Caden Pierce. Pierce is the energy guy for Princeton. He scores, rebounds, and just impacts the game in many ways. Limiting his impact would be very key.
UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos won a really good Big West by taking down Cal State Fullerton. At times, Santa Barbara was talked about a ton as a dangerous mid-major, but a bad February led to UC Irvine getting the number one seed in the conference. Regardless, the Gauchos and their two-point-reliant offense are in the NCAA Tournament.
Ajay Mitchell, Santa Barbara's best player, is another player that Julian Phillips or even Jahmai Mashack could handle. Mitchell is extremely good at putting it on the deck but only shoots around 27% from three. Miles Norris could be a problem for the Vols due to his ability to step out and shoot at 6'10, but Norris also isn't a super effective rebounder for his size.
Charleston
The projected 13-seed line would not be great for Tennessee. Ken State, Louisiana, Furman, and Iona would all be tough matchups. However, it's possible, with the way the last couple of weeks have gone, that Tennessee is a five-seed. If they are, a matchup with Charleston would be inviting.
Charleston had a good year finishing 31-3, but they would have a tough time getting off shots against Tennessee's length. Outside of a couple of teams in the CAA, Charleston didn't play against good competition for the final few months. The adjustment to playing Tennessee would be a tough one.
Ideally, Tennessee will want to avoid teams that can pressure the ball. Not having Zakai Zeigler and using Vescovi as a point guard (along with others) means that you'll have a good chance if you can speed up Tennessee defensively.
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