the Flights from Tennessee will play one of their biggest games of the season on Saturday afternoon when they take on the No. 3 Auburn Tigers in Knoxville.
Tennessee is 19-7 and a virtual lock to reach the NCAA Tournament, so it’s not a “must play” for volunteers. But a win could certainly make Tennessee’s path to the NCAA Tournament that much easier.
Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, who coached the Vols from 2005-2011, had a strong influence this week on this year’s Vols basketball team. .
Pearl compared this year’s Vols team to the 2018-19 UT team which went 31-6 and finished the season ranked 6th in the AP Top 25.
“I think this is one of the best Tennessee teams we’ve seen since 2019, and I think this was the best team we’ve seen since I’ve been at Auburn,” Pearl said this week.
“This (current) team here, I think, is just as good,” added Pearl. “The difference in this year’s team is that they’re actually better defensively. They turn you around, they steal the ball from you. They put a lot of pressure on you. They fly everywhere. It’s one of Rick’s best defensive teams.
“Tennessee, the last thing would be for them to play as hard and physically as anyone in our league. So it’s going to be a big challenge for us. Championship-caliber team.
Pearl noted that the 2019 Tennessee team, which lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue, was a Final Four caliber team. And he thinks this year’s team is also capable of making a Final Four.
“I just came back to 2019, when Tennessee was there as one of the best teams in the country,” Pearl explained. “I felt like us, Tennessee and Kentucky, the year we got to the Final Four, we were three teams that all could have made it to the Final Four.”
“They put Kentucky and us in the same area. And Tennessee lost a heartbreaker to Purdue, and then I think Virginia upset Purdue if I’m right. So we’ve seen Final Four caliber teams from Tennessee before. It is certainly, I think, one of them.
The Vols will no doubt have their hands full this weekend with an extremely talented Auburn squad. But we’ve seen the Tigers falter a few times on the road this year, falling in Florida and Arkansas and nearly losing to a not-so-good Georgia team.
It’s not a tiebreak for Tennessee. But it could definitely be a big statement game as the Vols gear up for March Madness.
Featured Image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel/Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports