KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols are playing the Saint Peter's Peacocks on Thursday night at 9:20 p.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Brian Rice, the co-host of The Erik Ainge Show on 99.1 The Sports Animal, WNML, said sports fans have been calling and texting their expectations for the Vols' NCAA tournament run.
"People are always happy to share what they think is going to happen or what they're afraid of is going to happen. You know, that's a lot of sports today," said Rice. "People have expectations, but they also have "the what-ifs." What if we do this? What if a player doesn't step up here? But it's what makes sports fun. People have been calling in very excited about Dalton Knecht, you haven't seen a scorer like him at Tennessee in decades. And what he has brought to change the trajectory and change the realistic expectations for this team, I think has been pretty special."
Hitch is a long-time caller to 99.1. Rice said he's been calling the station since the 1990s.
"Well guys, I say we get down and do this thing. It is March, baby," said Hitch. "I say let's get fired up and throw something, what do y'all say?"
Rice said he doesn't agree with Hitch's suggestion to throw a chair, but he said Vol fans have the right to have high expectations.
"We took a lot of calls about people with expectations, saying, you know, this is a team that should have Final Four expectations. If you don't reach the Elite Eight level, then it's going to be a disappointment. I think those are good things for the program. Those are good things for fans to have. You should have expectations, particularly with what they've accomplished to this point, this year. Now, there's people going to be a little upset if you don't get there. Yeah, but this is also March, and that happens," he said.
Rice said fans are uneasy after the Vols' performance against Mississippi State.
"The concern for people is in the NCAA Tournament, you don't get an opportunity to bounce back from a bad performance. It's win or go home," he said.
A caller named Michael has hope. He said the Vols haven't been playing like that all year.
"Rick Barnes said it after the Mississippi State game," said Mike. "That team that showed up against Mississippi State, he has not seen all year long. You know you've had some games where guys have not shown up and played well, but you've always had one or two guys. They've shown up. You know, Dalton Knecht has done it on a couple of different occasions."
Rice said all in all, fans seem hyped and are ready to see how far the Vols go during March Madness.
"Fans are excited," said Rice. "They should be excited. And there should be a fun hopefully three weeks for Tennessee and its fans in the NCAA Tournament."