Sweet 16: Tennessee-FAU opening odds

Against the odds and without their star point guard, Tennessee is headed to the Sweet 16. The Volunteers took care of Duke on Saturday, getting a 27 point effort from Olivier Nkamhoua.

Now they’re set for a trip to New York City to take on Florida Atlantic. Tennessee caught a big break on Friday with Purdue going down to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson. FDU then lost to FAU on Sunday night, setting up the Owl and Volunteers to play on Thursday night.

Per DraftKings Sportsbook, Tennessee has opened as a five point favorite in the matchup.

FAU went 33-3 this season, winning the Conference USA title. They were able to squeak by Memphis on Friday night before taking care of Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday, 78-70.

FAU’s three losses on the year came at Ole Miss (80-67), at UAB (86-77) and at MTSU (74-70). They are KenPom’s 22nd ranked team, sporting the 30th ranked offense and the 36th ranked defense. Tennessee is currently sixth in the metric.

The winner will get a ticket to the Elite Eight, where they’ll face the winner of Michigan State-Kansas State.

Inconsistency has plagued Tennessee all season long, but they showed up when it mattered the most on Saturday afternoon. Now, you can’t ask for a better path forward to the Elite Eight, and potentially a Final Four.

Tip-off between Tennessee and FAU is set for Thursday night at approximately 9 p.m. ET. The Volunteers will be looking for their second even Elite Eight appearance. It would be their first since 2010.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See DraftKings.com/sportsbook for details.