SHOCKING NEWS! ESPN Ranks Vols #14 out of #16

#1
Volador

Volador

Orange you glad to be a Vol??
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#1
We all know that ESPN hates the Vols football team, but the bias is carrying over it appears to BasketVols.


ESPN Gives Tennessee Low Ranking Among Sixteen Remaining Tournament Teams​


For the fourth time in the last four seasons, the Tennessee Volunteers are officially dancing their way to the Sweet 16. The Vols advanced past the first weekend of the tournament in Philadelphia with a blowout win over 11-seed Miami (OH) on Friday and a solid win over 3-seed Virginia on Sunday.
Tennessee will now prepare for a Sweet 16 game against 2-seed Iowa State next Friday night in Chicago, IL.


The Vols are one of 16 teams remaining in the tournament, including three other SEC teams: Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas. But even despite two convincing wins over the weekend, ESPN still believes that Tennessee isn’t in the top half of the remaining field.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf ranked Tennessee as the 14th-best team remaining in the tournament on Monday morning, ahead of only 9-seed Iowa and 11-seed Texas. The Vols land as the third highest-ranked team from the SEC behind No. 11 Arkansas and No. 12 Alabama.
“The Vols have been in the top 15 in adjusted defensive efficiency in seven of Barnes’ 11 seasons, including this season’s group, which forced Virginia into tough shots late and battled the Cavaliers in the paint for the win Sunday,” Medcalf writes.
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More From RTI: Tennessee Has Now Outpaced Kentucky in Six Straight NCAA Tournaments​

Tennessee, the 6-seed in the Midwest Region, outlasted 10 teams with the same or a higher seed during the opening weekend of the tournament: 1-seed Florida, 3-seed Gonzaga, 3-seed Virginia, 4-seed Kansas, 5-seed Vanderbilt, 5-seed Wisconsin, 5-seed Texas Tech, 6-seed North Carolina, 6-seed BYU, and 6-seed Louisville.
Tennessee will take on 2-seed Iowa State on Friday night at 10:10 p.m. ET in the Sweet 16. Medcalf has the Cyclones ranked as the sixth-best remaining team in the tournament.
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“The Cyclones’ second-round win proved that, even without injured All-American Joshua Jefferson, they’re still capable of being an aggressively defensive team and a fluid offensive squad that whips the ball around the court until it finds the best shot,” Medcalf writes.
Tennessee guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie has been the engine for the Vols’ offense in the tournament, with 50 combined points in the Vols’ first two games. He tallied 29 points during the Vols’ big win over Miami (OH) on Friday and 21 points in the win over Virginia on Sunday. Gillespie was also responsible for some clutch moments at the free-throw line against the Cavaliers.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Basketball tournament coverage throughout the week.
Check out Tennessee betting odds here


​

 
#4
#4
Ehh. I don’t think it’s all that egregious. Somewhat lazy actually. Iowa and Texas are the only teams left seeded lower than us. Looks like the author is largely following seed lines with a few adjustments. we were favored in both games and above Virginia in KenPom so haven’t really “slayed a dragon” in the tournament yet.

Speaking of KenPom, they have us as the 12th best team left and put us above St. John’s and Arky in addition to Iowa and Texas. Seems about right based on the metrics.

Just keep winning and opinions don’t matter!
 
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#5
#5
Seems reasonable to me when you look at their inconsistent play.

They have to be in sync and all
Players hitting on all cylinders to keep advance.

This is the reason they have failed in previous years.

Prove them wrong and advance.
 
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#6
#6
Rankings, especially from ESPN are nothing but politics and opinion. How many of us thought Tennessee would have made it this far this time last week? How many thought they would still be dancing after KY and FL and also VU got early exits. If Tennessee is they are on their "A" game, they can exceed our expectations even further. Thank goodness it's a Friday night game and not Thursday. Proud of them always! GO VOLS!
 
#8
#8
We're in it for the 4th year in a row, and opportunity to get to elite 8 to maybe play Michigan...something more than 200+ other teams can't say.
 
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#13
#13
Who cares, but I’m actually glad. We don’t play the part of media darling very well in basketball or football. Anything that helps us be a clear underdog I’m fine with. I think this group of guys and Barnes will use that well this week in preparation.
 
#14
#14
mscc1998 said:
Rankings, especially from ESPN are nothing but politics and opinion. How many of us thought Tennessee would have made it this far this time last week? How many thought they would still be dancing after KY and FL and also VU got early exits. If Tennessee is they are on their "A" game, they can exceed our expectations even further. Thank goodness it's a Friday night game and not Thursday. Proud of them always! GO VOLS!
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I had them in the Sweet 16 in my bracket. I also have Iowa State in the Final Four. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong.
 
#16
#16
No surprise there. FWIW I ran a pretty dense statistical analysis of the remaining teams through an LLM and it ranks Tennessee consistently in its Top Tier of title contenders - normally #3 behind Houston and UConn.
 
#17
#17
Dadof2Vols said:
Seems reasonable to me when you look at their inconsistent play.

They have to be in sync and all
Players hitting on all cylinders to keep advance.

This is the reason they have failed in previous years.

Prove them wrong and advance.
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That's the key thing to me. They can be great. But it seems that when one gets cold then they all get cold.
 
#18
#18
I'm not sure how ranking Tennessee 14 out of 16 is considered "hating" when Tennessee was a 6 seed and shouldn't have made the Sweet 16 at all. all the teams above us were seeded higher than Tennessee and expected to make the sweet 16.

all they did was rank the teams by their seed. makes total sense.
 
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#19
#19
tn4elvis said:
I am jealous. I was pacing the floor at home watching.
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Hilarious. My son and I did the same. YTTV acct was out and we were mirroring a phone the NCAA stream until it timed out! 😨 Switched to my phone but the app would only show commercials up on the TV. Literally watched the 4th Q of game on a Galaxy Fold leaning on the mantle. 🤣 Huge win. Small screen!
 
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#20
#20
livefaith said:
Hilarious. My son and I did the same. YTTV acct was out and we were mirroring a phone the NCAA stream until it timed out! 😨 Switched to my phone but the app would only show commercials up on the TV. Literally watched the 4th Q of game on a Galaxy Fold leaning on the mantle. 🤣 Huge win. Small screen!
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That’s definitely dedication and ingenuity. 😂
 
#22
#22
Seems the ACC is no longer a BB conference. 10 of the 16 come from B10/SEC. Only Duke is repping for the ACC coming out of Round 2. No Cinderellas advancing to the Sweet 16 this year. Duke, St. Johns and UCONN only 3 of 16 not repping the SEC/B10/B12.
 
#23
#23
Hrm...

Duke, St. John's, Michigan State, UConn
Michigan, Bama, Tennessee, Iowa State
Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Houston
Arizona, Arkansas, Texas, Purdue

I guess of these 16 I'd have us ahead of Texas and Iowa for sure...I think I'd also put us ahead of Nebraska and looking at how they've played so far and who they beat...I'd have us ahead of Arkansas too.

So, 12th instead of 14th...
 
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