KNOXVILLE, Tenn — The Tennessee men's basketball team returns to the first NCAA Tournament in two years as a No. 5 seed. The Vols will play No. 12 seed Oregon State in the first round. The two teams will play on Friday. Tipoff for the game is at 4:30 p.m. You can watch it on TNT.
Head coach Rick Barnes has led a team to the NCAA Tournament 25 times now in his career, with seven Sweet Sixteen trips, three Elite Eight appearances and one stop in the Final Four in 2003. Barnes has made two appearances in the NCAA tournament as the Tennessee head coach. The Vols are 3-2 in those appearances, losing in the second round in 2018 to No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago and falling in the Sweet Sixteen in 2019 to No. 3 seed Purdue.
Tennessee has advanced past the Sweet Sixteen just once in program history, losing to Michigan State in the Elite Eight in 2010.
The Vols finished the season with an 18-8 record (10-7 in conference play). Tennessee earned a spot as the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament but fell to No. 6 Alabama in the semifinal on Saturday.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament will begin on Thursday with the First Four. First round play will take place on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20. Second round play will continue the following day, starting on Sunday, March 21 and finishing on Monday, March 22.
The entirety of the tournament will be played in the state of Indiana, with the majority of the 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.