Tennessee
Bracketology: Tracking Tennessee Basketball's Offseason Movement | Rocky Top Insider
The college basketball world has made plenty of noise this offseason with prominent coaching changes, transfer portal activity, and final preparations for conference realignment heading into the 2024 season.
Coming off a run to the Elite Elite last season, Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers dealt with a significant amount of outgoing activity with the portal and graduation but hit a grand slam with four solid transfer players coming into the program.
Tennessee will now work to combine their returning and incoming pieces throughout the summer for another run to the second weekend of the postseason and potentially beyond.
ESPN expert Joe Lunardi released his latest Bracketology report on the final day of May without too many changes to his overall Tennessee projection throughout the offseason.
Lunardi has Tennessee projected as the four-seed in the East Region (Newark) with a first-round matchup against 13-seed Louisiana Tech. Tennessee then has a fascinating potential second-round matchup against SEC foe five-seed Texas if the Longhorns were to take down 12-seed Bradley in the first round.
The four-team pod is projected to be slated in Cleveland, Ohio.
Other notable projections for the East Region include back-to-back National Champion UConn as the one-seed, Iowa State as the two-seed, and North Carolina as the three-seed. SEC foe Mississippi State comes in as the seven-seed in the region while friend of Tennessee’s program Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans are projected as the eight-seed. Missouri is projected for a play-in game as the 11-seed in the East Region as well.
The SEC gained a team from the previous projections, too. The conference previously had 10 selections in the May 3 and May 15 projections but is up to 11 with the addition of Missouri as one of the last four teams in:
Midwest (Indianapolis): 2. Auburn, 5. Arkansas
West (San Francisco): 6. Texas A&M, 7. Kentucky, 9. Florida
South (Atlanta): 2. Alabama, 8. Ole Miss
East (Newark): 4. Tennessee, 5. Texas, 7. Mississippi State, 11. Missouri (play-in)
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The May 31 edition of Lunardi’s March Madness projections is the fourth iteration that the ESPN expert has done so far this season.
Tennessee started out as a five-seed in Lunardi’s projection on April 16, just one day after the Vols’ first transfer portal pickup with Hofstra wing Darlinstone “DStone” Dubar.
By the time the next projection came out on May 3, Tennessee had picked up two more portal pieces with Ohio State center Felix Okpara and Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr. The Vols moved up to the four-seed line after their second and third portal pickups.
Tennessee remained as a four-seed with no additional added players before the May 15 bracketology report was released. The Vols did pick up an elite guard on May 24, though, adding the No. 11 prospect in the portal with North Florida guard Chaz Lanier.
Tennessee Bracketology Tracker
April 16: 5-seed West Region vs 12-seed Bradley
May 3: 4-seed West Region vs 13-seed Vermont
May 15: 4-seed South Region vs 13-seed High Point
May 31: 4-seed East Region vs 13-seed Louisiana Tech
Tennessee
Deputies perform ‘life-saving measures’ after 5-year-old falls into swimming pool in Tennessee
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Tennessee sheriff’s office is asking the community to pray for a family whose 5-year-old was hospitalized after falling into a swimming pool.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said deputies and family members were “administering life-saving measures” Thursday afternoon after pulling the child out of the water.
The child was then transferred to a hospital, where they are still being treated.
“The child was subsequently transported to the hospital, where they are currently receiving medical care‚” said a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy, no further details will be released at this time.”
Copyright 2025 WSMV. All rights reserved.
Sam Purcell felt good about the game plan for Mississippi State women’s basketball’s matchup with Tennessee.
But the Bulldogs gave up 26 points in the first quarter and trailed by seven points. It was a deficit they never recovered from in a 90-80 loss to the Lady Vols at Humphrey Coliseum on Jan. 8.
“You look at that that first quarter, I thought it was crucial. We had a great scout, a great game plan, but we didn’t talk on ball screens,” Purcell said. “Their largest quarter was that first quarter, and we’re going to watch back and go, dang it, we need to be more vocal. And you got to give them credit – top to bottom, they’re probably as good as anybody in the country with athleticism. So you can’t let those athletic kids turn the corner for wide open layups, and we did.”
Kharyssa Richardson and Madison Francis led the Bulldogs with 22 points each, but MSU didn’t have enough defense to pull off the upset.
Had Mississippi State been able to slow down Tennessee’s drivers in the first quarter, it may have been a different result. But once the Bulldogs started slowing that down, the Lady Vols were “phenomenal hitting some big-time shots,” Purcell said.
Tennessee only had the edge in points in the paint, 42-40, but it also went 10-for-27 on 3-pointers, which was an area Mississippi State couldn’t match. The Bulldogs shot 2-for-13 from deep.
MSU also couldn’t stop Tennessee freshman point guard Mia Pauldo, who scored a game-high 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The Bulldogs sent her to the foul line time and time again, and she went 8-for-9 on free throws.
“I thought (Pauldo) was poised, she was clutch,” Purcell said. “Obviously, that’s what you need in games like this that are gonna come down the to the wire. You need players to step up, and I thought she was the X factor for them.”
The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the main teams when it comes to producing talent and sending talent to the NFL, which is something that has often been discovered as a standard for the football program. This is something that has been going on for quite some time and isn’t anything new to the news cycle, as the Vols have been able to produce plenty of talented prospects.
Tennessee is the home of many stars, including some of the best defensive players in SEC history. Guys like Eric Berry have found their way through the Tennessee program and onto the NFL, where they would have legendary careers. However, the defensive side of the football is the only side that has produced plenty of talent, as Tennessee has produced a lot of offensive talent as well. With the likes of Peyton Manning and company, the Vols have shown a great track record in getting talent drafted.
The Vols have produced someone who could be considered as one of the best players to play the Tide end position, as the Knoxville, Tennessee program is the home to Dallas Cowboys legend, Jason Witten. Witten is someone who made the most of his career and has been viewed as a top player at the Tide in position, and someone who is often referred to as a legend for the Cowboys, along with being a legend in the game of football as a whole.
Jason Witten Accepts TE Coach Position For Oklahoma
Witten is now taking a new gig, which has him in a huge role inside the Southeastern Conference. The Vols legend is now the tight end coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners have had some success out of their tight ends in the past, but the sky is the limit with a guy like Witten coaching up the players. Witten has the opportunity to do really well, as coaching tight ends won’t be an issue, and you have to imagine that he will be able to recruit very well, considering he has a huge name around him, as this is something that we have seen from positional coaches as well as head coaches who have done great work in the league. You have to imagine that the Vols will now have stiff competition for his son, Cooper, who is a five-star recruit for the upcoming 2027 class at the linebacker position.
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