South Region Preview: #13 Chattanooga Vs. #4 Illinois
The NCAA Tournament’s Round-of-64 is officially about to begin with the Tennessee Volunteers gearing up for a first-round matchup in Indianapolis. The third-seeded Vols will take on No. 14 Longwood on Thursday afternoon on CBS.
With a few days to let the brackets settle into place, it certainly looks like many experts around the country are high on Tennessee following their SEC Tournament championship victory.
Below are some of the expert picks and projections from around the country regarding the Tennessee Volunteers and the south region in Indianapolis.
Tennessee Basketball: Joe Lunardi Takes a Shot at Tennessee Fans, Advances Vols to Final Four
ESPN
Out of ESPN’s 54 College Basketball responders, 13 have picked Tennessee to win the south region and make it to the Final Four in New Orleans. Out of those 13, only Jimmy Dykes and Marty Smith are picking the Volunteers to cut down the final nets as the champions.
Arizona had the most selections to come out of the south region with 29. Villanova was in third place with six picks, followed by Houston with four and Illinois with two.
In addition, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi also picked Tennessee to reach the Final Four in his My Bracket series on YouTube.
CBS Sports
CBS Sports’ David Cobb is picking Arizona to win the south region.
“The Wildcats have already played two of their top competitors in the region, beating Illinois on the road,” Cobb said in his predictions. “They lost at Tennessee, but the Volunteers went undefeated on their home floor and a neutral-court rematch would likely produce a different result. The No. 2 seed in this region, Villanova, would be unable to match up with Arizona on the interior, and it’s hard to imagine any of the other candidates having the talent to hold this offense down for 40 minutes.”
Although he isn’t going with the Volunteers, Cobb does have Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James as one of his top players to watch out for in the tournament.
“The 6-foot-6 junior wing gets lost in the shuffle sometimes for the Volunteers, but his offensive emergence was the driving force behind their run of 12 wins in 13 games entering the NCAA Tournament,” Cobb wrote.
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated’s Jason Jordan is riding with the 2022 SEC Champions in the south region. Jordan is picking the Vols to beat the Arizona Wildcats in the Elite Eight in San Antonio.
“The Vols are playing their best basketball of the season against the toughest stretch of their schedule and have won in a variety of different ways with different variations of players stepping up in big games,” Jordan wrote. “Those capabilities advance you in March and will send Barnes to his second Final Four.”
In addition, Jordan also has the Vols listed as the toughest draw in the region.
“Winning the tournament title in arguably the toughest league in college hoops deserved better from the committee, but here we are,” Jordan wrote.
USA Today Sportsbook Wire
When factoring in the odds to come out of the region, USA Today’s expert prediction to come out of the south region is Tennessee. The Vols’ odds to win the south region are set at +400, but the team is the main reason for the pick.
“Many are rightfully surprised that the Vols, who ran through the SEC Tournament, didn’t get even a two seed,” USA Today’s Nathan Beighle wrote. “Kenpom has them as the third-best defense in the NCAA. That was on full display in the SEC Tournament, and I expect that success to continue deeper into March.”
Sporting News
Of the five Sporting News writers that participated in the selections, three of them have Arizona winning the south region with two picking Tennessee.
“No. 3 Tennessee was under-seeded by the committee,” Sporting News wrote. “That should spell trouble for No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Villanova, who will need to get past the jaded Vols.”
Of the two that picked Tennessee, one has the Vols losing to Kansas in the Final Four, while the other has Tennessee losing to Gonzaga in the National Championship.
