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Two ESPN Analysts Choose Vols to Cut Down Nets in NCAA Tournament

The Tennessee Volunteers are riding a strong wave into the NCAA tournament following a dominant SEC Conference tournament run, which resulted in the program's
Matt Ray|
Two ESPN Analysts Choose Vols to Cut Down Nets in NCAA Tournament
Two ESPN Analysts Choose Vols to Cut Down Nets in NCAA Tournament

The Tennessee Volunteers are riding a strong wave into the NCAA tournament following a dominant SEC Conference tournament run, which resulted in the program's first conference tournament title in over 40 years. With the round of 64 set to tip-off on Thursday, numerous ESPN analysts made their final four and champion projections, with two analysts picking the Vols to cut down the nets. 

Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith both chose the Vols to win the entire tournament, while 11 other analysts picked the Vols to make the Final Four. Arizona, who is the top seed in Tennessee's region, received 29 votes to make the final four and 15 votes to win the entire tournament. However, top overall seed Gonzaga received the most votes (23) to win the tournament. 

The article discussed the South region as well and reiterated how tough Tennessee's draw is. 

"Like the East, the South Region generated five different predictions to reach the Final Four, and also generated a significant amount of support for one team. No. 1 seed Arizona (29 picks) was the top choice, but perhaps concerns over Kerr Kriisa's injury helped generate additional counter support for 3-seed and SEC champ Tennessee (13 picks), Villanova (6 picks), Houston (4 picks) and Illinois (2 picks).It should be noted that of Houston's four ESPN votes of confidence to reach the third weekend, three came from professional basketball analytics-knowers John Gasaway, Paul Sabin and Seth Walder (the other came from esteemed broadcaster Robert Lee). That jibes with BPI's data on Houston -- the No. 5 seed Cougars have the sixth-best probability in the entire field to reach the Final Four, per BPI (26.1%), slightly better than Arizona's Final Four probability (25.2%) and the best of any non-1 or 2-seed.Tennessee (23.9% to reach the Final Four), Villanova (17%) and Illinois (4.3%) are next in the South Region in terms of BPI probability."

Tennessee will tip-off tomorrow against No.14 Longwood at 2:45 pm ET on CBS. If you do not know about the Lancers yet, take a look at our breakdown here. 

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Matt Ray
MATT RAY

Matt Ray is the publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's Volunteer Country, serving as a beat reporter covering football, recruiting, and occasionally other sports. Matt also is a lead analyst at Sports Illustrated All-American, Sports Illustrated lead authority in high school recruiting coverage. When not at work covering the Tennessee Volunteers or the recruiting trail, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife Destiny traveling the country.