Bracketology: Which #1 Seed Would You Most Like To See Tennessee Play?

by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 9, 2011 12:02 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball

SBN's latest bracketology is up, and it has Tennessee as a 9 seed matched up with 8 seed George Mason. Assuming Tennessee got past George Mason, the Vols would hypothetically find themselves playing Kansas (probably) in the second game. Yeah, I don't like the sound of that, either.

Which made me wonder, assuming Tennessee is an 8 or 9 seed, and assuming it wins its first game, which hypothetical 1 seed would you rather the Vols play? Right now, SBN's 1 seeds are Kansas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh. Me, I don't like the sound of Kansas because it seems like the best thing the Vols have going for them is an underdog personality disorder, meaning you're hoping for the team to play its best against better teams and that those better teams hurt themselves by not taking its opponent as seriously as it should. We played that hand perfectly last year against the Jayhawks, and I don't think the gambit works twice in a row.

Ohio State? We beat them the last time we played them, too. Ditto Pitt, which was really fun to type. I know absolutely nothing about Notre Dame, and I'd bet they know little about us, so I'm going with them. What do y'all think?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus lunch link: SCACCHoops.com has a game simulator. It says Tennessee beats Arkansas 89-61. Of course, it also says Melvin Goins has 21 points, so take it for what it's worth. You might want to tune in tomorrow night anyway, you know?

Poll

Which potential #1 seed would you rather see Tennessee play, assuming it gets an 8 or 9 seed and assuming it advances? Why?

Kansas

9 votes

Pitt

38 votes

Ohio State

28 votes

Notre Dame

105 votes

Some other team more likely to get a 1 seed

17 votes

197 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

We want Duke! We want Duke!

Rocky Top Talk

by Will Shelton on Mar 9, 2011 12:17 PM EST reply actions

I may have said this before

But the first weekend of March Madness, I’ll be on my official visit to UNC, where I expect to accept an offer to study Philosophy at the PhD level. With that in mind:

Dream scenario: UT upsets Duke in round two
Nightmare scenario: UT falls to UNC in round two

by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 9, 2011 12:22 PM EST up reply actions

OSU

So many storylines to this…

Them turning us in on the BBQ, Aaron Craft reneging on his commitment, more payback for the Sweet Sixteen loss in 2007 (we didn’t deal enough hurt to them last year), Harris vs. Sullinger, Pearl vs. Matta, SEC vs OSU, etc.

But mostly, them turning Pearl in on the BBQ.

What are you talking about, Willis?

by Huge Alien Head on Mar 9, 2011 12:22 PM EST reply actions

Oh, and they can't honestly call Pearl a cheater

when they have one of their own.

On the flipside, the announcers would beat it into the ground.

What are you talking about, Willis?

by Huge Alien Head on Mar 9, 2011 12:25 PM EST up reply actions

i consider Pearl's infraction more of a lie than cheating any way

cheating usually implies some sort of advantage.

I like orange and I am a dog person

by goldballs on Mar 9, 2011 1:04 PM EST up reply actions

Like the advantage of having HS juniors over to your house

just sayin’

The lyin’ is what he’s in trouble for, but the lyin’ attempted to cover up the cheatin’.

(when reading ‘lying’ or ‘cheating’, it’s much more palatable when you leave off the ‘g’. It’s all in fun! Yee haw!)

What are you talking about, Willis?

by Huge Alien Head on Mar 9, 2011 1:50 PM EST up reply actions

just not sure what advantage that would be

we didn’t even get the players and it is difficult to say that, if we had gotten them, it would have been because of the awesome BBQ they had. There are much more direct and effective ways to entice players to join your team that would certainly give you an advantage

I like orange and I am a dog person

by goldballs on Mar 9, 2011 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

I would probably enjoy beating OSU the most

For all the reasons that you mentioned…I just think we’d have a much better chance against Notre Dame.

by VolnVA on Mar 9, 2011 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

yeah especially after the aOSU player last year saying scotty clearly fouled him

and crying about how much BS it was that we won that game on TV

I like orange and I am a dog person

by goldballs on Mar 9, 2011 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

I want Notre Dame

but I absolutely want no part of George Mason.

Then again, I also want a 10 seed.

Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.

by Chris Pendley on Mar 9, 2011 12:39 PM EST reply actions

I used the simulator...

to play us against Notre Dame, and we won 88-86, with Goins scoring 14 and Golden scoring 11. So….hmmm. I don’t know about that.

It also said that in 2 simulations, UT won both times.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti

by sddbaker on Mar 9, 2011 2:38 PM EST reply actions