As the Tennessee Titans have continued to unravel their free agency moves, many around the league have begun to put the pieces together to outline the team’s plans for their highly-anticipated number-one pick.

As the Titans have remained diligent in preparing their offensive line with two new starters in Dan Moore Jr. and Kevin Zeitler, while also not making any major moves to their quarterback room, it’s begun to lead to the belief that Tennessee will inevitably target a signal caller with their top selection on the board come late April.

Yet, a few faces around the league still don’t see the Titans’ plans to be completely finalized at number-one.

According to ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller, despite considerable chatter around the Titans and potential plans to draft a quarterback atop the board, he still sees a world where Tennessee goes in another direction.

“After Tennesse designed free agent Dan Moore Jr. to play left tackle, folks on social media proclaimed the Titans were drafting Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick,” Miller wrote. “Signing Moore shouldn’t be the move that cements that. In fact, it’s still unclear how Tennessee is leaning at No. 1… There is the option of Levis returning as the starter with an improved offensive line. Drafting a quarterback isn’t a lock, even if it remains a big need.”

The hype around Ward has seemingly only grown since the season’s wrapped up, but that doesn’t mean Tennessee is locked in at upgrading their quarterback room at one.

Other appealing blue-chip prospects will also be up for grabs, and with two names like Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter also filling positions of need, in the eyes of Miller, that could further add to the appeal of the chances Tennessee goes with a non-quarterback.

“We can’t forget that the Titans also released Harold Landry III, their top pass rusher from last season, and haven’t yet replaced him,” Miller continued. “All options are on the table for Tennessee. The team’s clear-cut needs at quarterback, wide receiver, defensive end and cornerback would make drafting Ward, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter or Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter viable possibilities. And that’s not factoring a potential trade, if the Titans find a team willing to make a strong deal. There wasn’t one clear move that tipped what Tennessee will do.”

Tons of time still remains between now and decision-making time for the Titans, and a few remaining components of the pre-draft process still remain with events like interviews, workouts, and pro day performances for the top guys on the board.

Ward may be the early favorite, but if another top guy does enough to boost his stock with the Titans brass, or another team offers a package that can’t be passed on, don’t be shocked to see the front office opt to go with another option as opposed to the Miami product.

The 2025 NFL Draft will officially kick off on Thursday, April, 24th in Green Bay, WI.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

As Nashville grows and changes at a breakneck pace, a parcel of land just an hour outside the city is growing increasingly wild — and has been for the past 30 years.

The Elephant Sanctuary, in Hohenwald, celebrated its 30^th anniversary on March 3, marking three decades of adopting former circus and show elephants and allowing them to retire in peaceful wilderness.

Started in 1995 with just one rescued elephant named Tarra who roamed 110 acres of land, the sanctuary has grown into the nation’s largest natural habitat refuge for elephants at 3,060 acres, including an educational center for the public. Wide open fields and native foliage provide a backdrop for 12 retired African and Asian elephants to live out their golden years under the loving care of their handlers.

Janice Zeitlin, CEO of the sanctuary since 2013, expressed excitement for the future of the sanctuary and said reaching the anniversary is “overwhelming.”

“We’re sharing this world with some really beautiful and wonderful creatures,” she said. “And we need to take care of them. We need to be respectful and keep them safe.”

The habitat has seen its fair share of heartwarming stories — from a documentary-inspiring friendship between two elephants as well as the refuge serving as partial inspiration for the book “Leaving Time” by best-selling author Jodi Picoult — and hardships, like the decade-long legal fight over ownership of the sanctuary’s first elephant and the accidental death of an elephant trainer in 2006.

The gentle giants that call the sanctuary home — of which there have been 34 in total — come from a wide range of circumstances. One from the Louisville Zoo, a number from a private owner in Chicago, two from the Knoxville Zoo and even one from the cast of the 1988 “Big Top Pee-wee” movie.

“In many of these situations, the zoos and owners are making decisions because their elephants are getting older, and they really want them to have socialization opportunities that they might not have gotten previously,” Zeitlin said. “Elephants really need social opportunities. They’re very social creatures.”

One favorite resident of the facility, Shirley, born in 1948 in Sumatra, made a tremendous impact on her handlers. The Asian elephant, a former circus performer, survived an insane sequence of events, including being kidnapped by forces belonging to Cuba’s Prime Minister Fidel Castro, a shipwreck off of Nova Scotia, a truck wreck, being attacked by another elephant and living for 20 years as the only elephant at a small zoo in Louisiana, before retiring to the sanctuary.

She died in 2021 at 72 years old, making her the second-oldest elephant in North America.

Shirley’s story: North America’s second oldest elephant dies at 72 in Tennessee sanctuary

“Shirley was just really special,” Zeitlin said with emotion. “She was so intelligent and entirely her own animal. Shirley kind of epitomized what this sanctuary is all about: giving a home to and helping these big animals have a safe place where they’re taken care of through their lifetime, through all those phases of life.”

Looking to the future, Zeitlin said the refuge is excited to be developing its international partnerships and advocating for elephants everywhere.

“We give out grants once a year for protecting elephants and trying to create better welfare for them, both in human care and in the wild. … We have a group in Vietnam that helps elephants retire from giving rides to tourists, and another group that’s tracking elephants through India and trying to keep pathways open from human conflict,” she said. “We just want to create a better world for elephants wherever they are.”

#1 Auburn Tigers (28-4) vs. #4 Tennessee (26-6)
SEC Tournament Semifinals
March 15, 2025 at Noon (CT)
Bridgestone Arena (18,500) | Nashville, Tenn.

Television: ESPN
Play-By-Play: Dan Shulman
Color Analyst: Jay Bilas
Sideline Reporter: Jess Sims

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

Top-seeded Auburn (28-4) takes on fourth-seeded Tennessee (26-6) in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. It marks the first meeting between the two teams in the tournament since the Tigers claimed an 84-64 victory in the 2019 SEC Championship Game.

Auburn defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 62-57 behind a 23-point and 15-rebound effort from SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome.

Tennessee reaches the semi-finals after dispatching the No. 13 seed Texas Longhorns 83-72 on Friday afternoon. The Vols were paced by 23 points from Chaz Lanier and relied heavily on their starting five. The Vols got just 12 points from their three-man bench on Saturday.

The Tigers beat the Vols in their lowest-scoring game of the season in January. Broome came off the bench to score 16 points after an ankle injury, and the Tigers won 53-51.

» The Tigers compiled a 15-3 record in regular-season play to earn the No. 1 seed.

» Auburn is looking to repeat as SEC Tournament champions after winning its third SEC Tournament title in program history and second under head coach Bruce Pearl a year ago in Nashville. The Tigers also won the tournament title in 1985 and 2019.

» Since 2018, Auburn has won three SEC regular-season championships and two tournament titles, which leads the league for overall championships over that span.

» Bruce Pearl and C.M. Newton, who won two Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year honors at Alabama and Vanderbilt, are the only head coaches to win the award at two different league schools. Pearl, who won the award in 2006 and 2008 at Tennessee and twice at Auburn in 2022 and 2025, is tied with Newton for the second-most AP SEC Coach of the Year awards all-time, one behind Adolph Rupp’s five at Kentucky.

» Johni Broome was honored as SEC Player of the Year by the Associated Press and the league’s coaches this week. Broome joins Charles Barkley (1984) and Chris Porter (1999) as the only Tigers to win the AP honor.

» Auburn matched program records with the 2021-22 squad with 15 SEC wins & 27 regular-season wins.

» Auburn, which had been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for eight-straight weeks, is one of only two SEC teams to ever be ranked first for at least six-straight weeks in the AP Poll, joining Kentucky. The Tigers are No. 3 in both national polls behind Duke and Houston.

» The Tigers have been ranked for 32-consecutive weeks, which is the seventh-longest active streak in the country and matches the longest streak in program history. Four of Auburn’s five longest ranked streaks in program history have come since January 2018. Saturday’s contest is the 56th-straight game the Tigers have played as a ranked team.

SERIES HISTORY vs. TENNESSEE

» Auburn is 8-3 in the last 11 contests against Tennessee including the top-ranked Tigers’ 53-51 victory over the sixth-ranked Volunteers on Jan. 25 at Neville Arena – the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season.

» Ten of the last 12 games in the series, including the last six, have been decided by 10 points or less. The last six contests in the series have been decided by an average of 5.3 points.

» Tennessee leads 7-5 the series at neutral sites and 8-4 in the SEC Tournament, but Auburn defeated the Volunteers, 84-64, in the 2019 championship game the last time the two teams met in postseason play.

» Bruce Pearl is 9-7 as a head coach against Tennessee with all 16 games coming during his 11 seasons at Auburn. He is 1-1 versus the Volunteers in the SEC Tournament including an 84-64 victory in the 2019 title game.

» Pearl is 11-7 in head-to-head meetings with Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes including a 9-6 mark at Auburn versus Barnes at UT. Pearl went 2-1 against Texas under Barnes during his six seasons at Tennessee.

» In those coaching matchups, the Volunteers defeated No. 6 Texas, 95-78, in Austin on Dec. 17, 2005, behind 21 points from Chris Lofton and 111-105 in overtime on Dec. 23, 2006 behind 35 points and 11 rebounds from Lofton. Meanwhile, the No. 15-ranked Longhorns knocked off No. 7 Tennessee, 97-78, on Nov. 24, 2007 in Newark, N.J.

PLAYER TO WATCH: JOHNI BROOME

» Senior big man Johni Broome joined Charles Barkley (1984) and Chris Porter (1999) as the only Tigers to earn SEC Player of the Year honors from the Associated Press.

» He is the only player in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history to record 2,500 points, 1,500 rebounds and 400 blocks in his career.

» Broome is averaging 18.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on the season. Against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, he scored 23 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for his 18th double-doubles this season, tying Mike Mitchell’s single-season school record for double-doubles during the 1974-75 season.

» Broome is making his third SEC Tournament appearance and was crowned the Most Valuable Player of last year’s tournament.

» This season, he led the Tigers to a No. 1 national ranking for a school-record eight consecutive weeks, 16 Quad 1 wins in the regular season, the 2024 Maui Invitational crown and the program’s fifth Southeastern Conference title (regular season or tournament) over the last eight seasons.

» The SEC Player of the Year (coaches and AP) and two-time All-SEC First Team selection was also recently recognized as the National College Player of the Year by the Sporting News, co-Player of the Year by the Field of 68 Network as well as Player of the Year by the NCAA’s Andy Katz and by Jon Rothstein for College Hoops Today.