Tennessee
Look: SEC Tournament bracket set with Tennessee as the No. 4 seed
Tennessee will face either Texas A&M, Vanderbilt or Texas in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Vols are the No. 4 seed, awaiting No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 12 Vanderbilt or No. 13 Texas.
The SEC Tournament bracket was officially set Saturday night, with Tennessee scheduled to play at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time Friday on ESPN.
No. 12 Vanderbilt and No. 13 Texas play Wednesday at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on SEC Network. The winner advances to face No. 5 Texas A&M at the same time Thursday on SEC Network.
Tennessee beat Texas 74-70 at Texas on January 11, won 77-69 at Texas A&M on February 22 and split the regular-season series with Vanderbilt, losing 76-75 in Nashville on January 18 and winning 81-76 in Knoxville on February 15.
Tennessee clinched the No. 4 seed with the 75-65 Senior Day win over South Carolina at Food City Center on Saturday and with No. 7 Alabama beating No. 1 Auburn in overtime at Neville Arena in Auburn.
Auburn is the No. 1 seed and will face either No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 9 Arkansas or No. 16 South Carolina. Florida is the No. 2 seed on the bottom half of the bracket and will play No. 7 Missouri, No. 10 Mississippi State or No. 15 LSU. Alabama is the No. 3 seed and will play either No. 6 Kentucky, No. 11 Georgia or No. 14 Oklahoma.
Vols finished 12-6 in SEC play, won eight of final 10
Tennessee finished 12-6 in SEC play, winning eight of its final 10 games of the regular season, dating back to the 64-44 win over Florida on February 1.
The only losses over the last five weeks were at Kentucky on February 11 and at Ole Miss on Wednesday. Tennessee lost three road games in conference play by a combined five points, falling 76-75 at Vanderbilt, 53-51 at Auburn and the two-point loss at Ole Miss.
Tennessee started the season by tying a program record with a 14-0 start, including a 76-52 win over Arkansas to start SEC play on January 4. The Vols lost four of their next four of their next seven over three weeks.
Tennessee’s history in the SEC Tournament under Rick Barnes
Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022 — the program’s first conference tournament championship since 1979 — after beating Mississippi State, Kentucky and Texas A&M over three days in Tampa.
The Vols played for the SEC Tournament title in both 2018 and 2019, losing to Kentucky in 2018 in St. Louis and to Auburn a year later in Nashville.
Tennessee was one-and-done in the SEC Tournament a year ago, losing 73-56 to Mississippi State before going on an NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight.
The Vols lost in the quarterfinals to Missouri in 2023, after beating Ole Miss a day earlier, and went to the semifinals in 2021 before losing to Alabama.
Tennessee played three games in the 2016 SEC Tournament, in the first year under Rick Barnes, beating Auburn and Vanderbilt before losing to LSU in the quarterfinals as the No. 12 seed. The Vols were one-and-done in 2017 after a loss to Georgia in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game.
Tennessee
Trump pardons former Tennessee House speaker and his aide, who were convicted on federal corruption charges
President Donald Trump pardoned former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, who were convicted on federal corruption charges.
Casada, a Republican, was sentenced in September to 36 months in prison after being convicted on 17 charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cothren, the aide, received a shorter sentence.
Casada confirmed the pardon on Thursday in a statement to NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville, saying: “Yes the president called me today and granted me a full pardon. I am grateful of his trust and his full confidence in my innocence through this whole ordeal.”
In a statement, a White House official confirmed Trump’s decision to pardon Casada and Cothren and blamed the Biden administration for over-prosecuting the two men.
“The Biden Department of Justice significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue involving constituent mailers — which were billed at competitive prices, never received a complaint from legislators, and resulted in a net profit loss of less than $5,000. The Biden DOJ responded with an armed raid, perp walk, and suggested sentences exceeding 10 years — penalties normally reserved for multimillion-dollar fraudsters,” the official told NBC News.
The investigation of both men began during Trump’s first term — and the raids of their homes — were conducted in January 2021, while Trump was still in office. The judge who oversaw the case and handed down Casada and Cothren’s sentences was appointed by Trump in his first term.
The charges against Casada and Cothren centered on a consulting firm they founded with another lawmaker, called Phoenix Solutions. Prosecutors alleged that the former House speaker and his aide used the company to illegally funnel money to themselves for campaign and taxpayer-funded work, including by organizing a $52,000 mailer program for Tennessee lawmakers.
Prosecutors said they used a false name — Matthew Phoenix — to run the company.
Several years before Casada was charged, he served as House speaker in Tennessee, but resigned in 2019 after a no-confidence vote by his fellow lawmakers. The vote came in the wake of another scandal involving Casada and Cothren, where the two were accused of exchanging sexually explicit text messages about women. Casada apologized for the texts and said that they were “not the person I am.”
The president this term has also pardoned several other former politicians, including former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, former Tennessee GOP state Sen. Brian Kelsey and former GOP Las Vegas City Councilmember Michele Fiore. He also commuted former GOP Rep. George Santos’ prison sentence.
The Tennessee Volunteers are in the middle of a bye-week, after last weekend’s loss to Oklahoma.
The playoffs are out of the picture, but there is still plenty of work left to do. The Vols will use this week to work on getting some guys healthy as they prepare for New Mexico State on November 15.
It will be interesting to see if there are any changes for the New Mexico State in terms of players. Will the Vols decide to go a bit younger and work in some younger guys as a way to jumpstart some guys who may battle for playing time and/or a starting position next season.
Josh Heupel met with reporters earlier today to discuss a few things as the team prepares to move forward.
Josh Heupel’s Opening Statement
“How’s everybody doing? Uh, good work today. Um, got another day tomorrow and then some of the coaches will hit the ground recruiting this week. Big focuses again on us during the bye and how we get better. So, open it up,” Heupel said.
Balancing Act
“Yeah, I think wherever your feet are and what’s important at that moment is what you got to be doing. So, uh the development of our current players, our preparation of the opponent that we’re playing, you know, for me, at times the projection of the following year in all departments you’re looking at. So, it’s a combination of all those things. December has changed a little bit on the calendar as well. That gives you a little bit more time potentially in December as well,” Heupel said.
Rotating Young Guys
“Guys that prove that they’re ready to play and play at a really high level, championship level. They earn the right to play and compete and that’s ongoing throughout the course of this season. These guys have worked really hard, disappointed in the results Saturday and a couple other during the course of the year, for sure. But man, it’s constant and consistent growth from everybody,” Heupel explained.
Click HERE to watch and listen to everything Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel said during his Wednesday media availability during the bye-week.
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