With a conference one-seed in hand and an SEC regular-season championship in their back pocket, Tennessee will depart for Nashville on Wednesday afternoon in hopes of adding more hardware to the collection this weekend in the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee will play three games, at most, in the single-game elimination format. The Vols will start the tournament in the quarterfinals with a potential semi-final matchup on Saturday and a potential conference championship game on Sunday. All of Tennessee’s games will be at 1:00 p.m. ET for as long as they are playing.
Tennessee has one conference tournament title since the 1979 season, coming in 2022 with the team led by freshman Kennedy Chandler, Josiah-Jordan James, and Santiago Vescovi.
The Vols’ game on Friday will be against either 8-seed LSU or 9-seed Mississippi State, the Bulldogs being the first SEC team to beat Tennessee this past season. Tennessee’s most likely Saturday opponent will be Auburn, though there is certainly a chance that South Carolina could push for a spot in the semi-final as well.
Ahead of the Vols’ trip over to Nashville, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and guard Jordan Gainey met with the media to preview the upcoming tournament. Barnes spoke about the mental state of the team with all the off time between games while Gainey spoke about locking in during the course of a three-game stretch this weekend.
More from RTI: Tennessee Basketball Rooting Guide Entering Conference Tournament Week
Check out both interviews below and make sure to stay locked into Rocky Top Insider throughout the week for consistent SEC Tournament coverage.
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes
Tennessee G Jordan Gainey
