Will Tennessee Surpass Narratives & Reach 2024 NCAA Final Four?
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:05 >> Let's dive right in.
00:06 The top team out of the SEC, the regular season champs who came up short in their
00:11 opening game in Nashville in the SEC tournament, the Tennessee Volunteers.
00:16 They are the two seed in the Midwest region,
00:18 where Purdue is the number one seed in that portion of the bracket.
00:22 For Tennessee to get to a Final Four, it is plus 340.
00:27 Rick Barnes has only made one Final Four in his very lengthy college coaching
00:32 career that was back in 2002-03 at Texas.
00:36 Some of the same narratives that surround Purdue also surround the Vols.
00:40 Can they change that narrative in this 2024 NCAA tournament?
00:44 >> I don't buy into narratives and I sort of take that breath because I know what
00:51 everybody says about Rick Barnes, right?
00:53 I know what the narrative is about.
00:55 I mean, I'd say this every time I come on every week that you don't bet narratives,
00:59 right?
00:59 That's not a good formula for success,
01:02 because that's not how the game is decided based off a narrative.
01:04 So that said, look, Tennessee, they better hope to get a little bit
01:11 lucky with the draw to get themselves into an Elite Eight game against Purdue, right?
01:18 I mean, think of what is on their side of the bracket.
01:21 Look, Colorado State, we just saw them last night.
01:23 They could see them in the second round.
01:25 I wouldn't shock me if they beat Texas.
01:27 But you're talking about one of the best overall shooting teams in the country in
01:30 Creighton, and a very familiar opponent in South Carolina,
01:35 which defensively has shown they can check some of the best offenses in the country.
01:41 So they're not done any favors with where they are in the bottom half
01:45 of that Midwest bracket just to get to a chance to play Purdue,
01:51 which maybe is the best team in the country or second best team in the country,
01:55 for a right to go to a Final Four.
01:57 So I don't feel warm and fuzzy about it.
02:01 I would probably think that I'd rather have South Carolina there than Creighton,
02:04 just for the familiarity's sake.
02:07 And I'd probably rather have them face Texas in the second round.
02:10 If they can get things to bounce their way as far as who they're going to play
02:15 and the path that they get, they have a very realistic chance to play in an Elite
02:18 Eight game with a chance to go to the Final Four.
02:20 But it's not an easy path for the volunteers.
02:24 Trust me, they wanted to be that one seed where North Carolina was.
02:26 [MUSIC]
02:29 (bells chiming)