Tennessee opens as 5.5 point favorite over Florida Atlantic

#27
#27
VolBricks said:
We must control the pace of the game. Every team we have played this season that likes to run has given us fits (see KY). I think FAU knows that they cannot get into a half court game with us because we will lock them down defensively. Run-and-Gun is their only opportunity to win this game.
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If we really hit the boards on offense like we should, the run game will be shut down. Once we start getting O rebounds they will have to commit more people to rebound - hard to run without the ball.
 
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#30
#30
We did play Texas Tech recently at MSG in Dec. 2021. No one needs a refresher on our shooting in that game. Ugh!
 
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#31
#31
erwinjrvol88 said:
Something I've not seen discussed much about FAU that worries me is that they have a lot of players that average double digit minutes. If they're already used to subbing in fresh legs, UT's defense may show cracks late in the game if it's close.
Maybe I'm way off and it's just BVS...
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We’re going 9 deep ourselves?
 
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#32
#32
If you believe FAU can hit half of their points from contested 3's (like 10-15 range), I can see it. No way they score 40 points in the paint. Unless Tennessee goes on biblical scoring droughts, I can't see this being close. Hope I'm right and not eating crow.
 
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#33
#33
VolsSportsFan said:
I'm nervous but this time I'm like good, giddy nervous. Like Christmas Eve as a kid nervous. I think we get it done.
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Gotta be honest. When our fans start crowing and feeling a bit smug, I worry the team might be feelin' a bit fat and sassy as well. Don't like that with a team like FAU looming. If it were a blue blood or bama, I know this team would show up ready to play. Will FAU get their attention? Who will show up and who will disappear? This team just does not function as well from the front of the pack. We need to be disrespected and written off. Hoping for the best here.
 
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#34
#34
CAVPUT said:
Gotta be honest. When our fans start crowing and feeling a bit smug, I worry the team might be feelin' a bit fat and sassy as well. Don't like that with a team like FAU looming. If it were a blue blood or bama, I know this team would show up ready to play. Will FAU get their attention? Who will show up and who will disappear? This team just does not function as well from the front of the pack. We need to be disrespected and written off. Hoping for the best here.
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Think the talking heads helped give us disrespecting bulletin board material…Us against the world usually works.
 
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#35
#35
erwinjrvol88 said:
Something I've not seen discussed much about FAU that worries me is that they have a lot of players that average double digit minutes. If they're already used to subbing in fresh legs, UT's defense may show cracks late in the game if it's close.
Maybe I'm way off and it's just BVS...
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We are pretty deep too. So I'm not too concerned as maybe in years past where we were primarily playing 6 guys.

The thing is, though they play alot of guys they are mostly of similar build, 6'4 and under guards. They only have two guys that are in their main 9-man rotation that are 6'5 or taller. One 7'1 Center and a 6'8 Forward. And both only average 20 or less minutes. There could be good stretches of time on the floor where we have 4 of the top 5 tallest guys on the floor. (x2 Bigs, JJJ, JP) and by a few inches too.

So whole they sub alot and have fresh legs, their style doesn't change. They are fairly one dimensional and I don't think their style will play well against all of our length. I like our advantage over theirs.
 
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#37
#37
GritsNgravy said:
Favored 5.5 over Florida this year too 👀
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I'm not concerned by that. That was an away game on our rival's home court and Florida had a huge free throw discrepancy in their favor. I dont see the referees granting 20+ free throws to a team this time of year. In fact, I don't see FAU getting in the paint too much for that ti eveb happen.
 
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#38
#38
Shocked by the amount of confidence in this thread and people believing we win this “easily” and “by double digits” under almost any circumstance. Transitive property does not work in sports and it certainly does not apply in the NCAAT. Throw out the half hearted research you’ve done by skimming through their schedule and common opponents. This isn’t a pushover opponent and FAU is honestly a not-great matchup for us with their outside shot making ability.
 
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#41
#41
berryvol said:
Shocked by the amount of confidence in this thread and people believing we win this “easily” and “by double digits” under almost any circumstance. Transitive property does not work in sports and it certainly does not apply in the NCAAT. Throw out the half hearted research you’ve done by skimming through their schedule and common opponents. This isn’t a pushover opponent and FAU is honestly a not-great matchup for us with their outside shot making ability.
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I’m surprised you’re so pessimistic. There may be an outlier thinking FAU is an easy out, but it’s the last 16 standing and there are no easy outs. However, we’re a bad matchup for FAU not the other way around. I’ve watched their last 2 games and we have bigger better athletes at every position. We have to be off and they have to play great to beat us - we’re just better. No guarantees in this sport but we have a decided advantage. Nothing wrong with us fans talking discussing it IMO. We’re not going to influence the players and jinx it.
 
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#43
#43
They score a good amount with their bench and take a lot of 3s. They did have a weak overall schedule, but I do believe we're in for a fight. I think like a 5 point win.
 
#44
#44
erwinjrvol88 said:
Something I've not seen discussed much about FAU that worries me is that they have a lot of players that average double digit minutes. If they're already used to subbing in fresh legs, UT's defense may show cracks late in the game if it's close.
Maybe I'm way off and it's just BVS...
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The key to Barnes style is it forces the offense to expend a lot of energy to score, run, run, cut right up to the buzzer. The UT offense also works those defensive legs relentlessly in the half court. Duke came out of man to man defense early in the 2nd half because they needed a blow. That was their downfall and the point where Olivier went off on their zone. UT rotations will be better quality then their rotations. Now if they start shooting 3's from half court and making them like Missouri not much you can do about that.
 
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#45
#45
They lost to Ole Miss by 13 this season...Beat Florida by 2...Other than that they really haven't played any big name teams other than Memphis which they beat by 1 in the tournament...I think we bust em up real good.
 
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#47
#47
According to the sharp sportsbooks, most are favoring TN on the -5.5 line. Their implied final score is approximately 68-62. I know FAU has a top 40 adjusted defensive efficiency rating but I’m gonna be honest, I think their defense is overrated. This rating is adjusted for their weaker schedule and other factors but they do not match up well with us on the defensive end. If our defense doesn’t come to play, they are definitely capable of hanging around and beating us. However, if we play defense Thursday like we did vs Duke and we don’t turn the ball over like we did vs Louisiana, this will be a win. FAU will go from playing one of the worst defenses in the country (FDU) to the best in the country. They’ll have to be hitting their shots from deep. It won’t be easy, but it’s favorable.
 
#49
#49
CAVPUT said:
Gotta be honest. When our fans start crowing and feeling a bit smug, I worry the team might be feelin' a bit fat and sassy as well. Don't like that with a team like FAU looming. If it were a blue blood or bama, I know this team would show up ready to play. Will FAU get their attention? Who will show up and who will disappear? This team just does not function as well from the front of the pack. We need to be disrespected and written off. Hoping for the best here.
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Astute.
 
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