ESPN’s Dicky V has had a loud-spoken admiration for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes as the two have bonded over faith and basketball during their two longtime careers. But when it comes to the upcoming season, Vitale might believe that Tennessee has more work to do in order to make another big postseason run.
Vitale didn’t speak about Tennessee directly but recently left them off his early Sweet 16 projections list for ESPN on Thursday. The veteran analyst and broadcaster has five SEC teams in the final sixteen, but not one of them is Tennessee.
That can only imply that Vitale isn’t buying stock into Tennessee’s season as a whole or already projects Tennessee as a team on upset alert in July. What’s perhaps more interesting are the conference teams that Dick Vitale has in over Tennessee.
Alabama and Auburn project two strong teams as usual with the 14th bid going to Texas A&M. But Vitale has Arkansas as the No. 13 team in his rankings in their first year with John Calipari and Kentucky at No. 15 in their first year without John Calipari. Vitale’s list implies that a fresh start with Arkansas will push Calipari into a further run with the Hogs while Kentucky simultaneously gets over the hump right out of the gates in their first season without Calipari.
While Vitale might not be buying the hype around Rick Barnes’ next team, other analytical factors and experts are.
Tennessee comes in as the No. 13 team in Jeff Borzello’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for ESPN while analytical-based college basketball website BartTorvik.com has projected Tennessee to claim a second-straight SEC regular season championship. The website also has Tennessee as the No. 5 preseason team and the No. 1 preseason SEC team in their latest update.
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There’s an argument to be made that Vitale is buying the wrong stock. All of these teams, including Tennessee, are going through some sort of roster revamps in the portal with some more than others. But while the Vols are without key veterans such as Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James, and Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee won’t be without impressive talent next season.
Tennessee guards Zakai Zeigler, Jordan Gainey, and Jahmai Mashack are all heading into their senior seasons while expectations are growing for rising sophomores Cam Carr, JP Estrella, and Cade Phillips.
Tennessee also added four players through the transfer portal this season including blue-chip guard Chaz Lanier, true center Felix Okpara, stretch-four Igor Milicic Jr., and versatile wing Darlinstone Dubar.
The Vols also have less meshing to do than Arkansas and Kentucky while retaining their well-established culture in the building from last season.
Tennessee has made back-to-back Sweet 16s with another during the 2018-2019 season under Rick Barnes. While Sweet 16s are a tall task in itself to make, the Vols have been on a solid run the past two years and have revamped with productive talent to fit the needs that had departed.
Check out Dick Vitale’s early Sweet 16 projections for ESPN here.
One Response
Screw Dicky V!!What does he know!!