Rick Barnes has once again found his way into another Elite 8, the third straight year he’s guided Tennessee to the precipice of the Final Four.
While the Volunteers have yet to climb that last obstacle under Barnes or under anyone, the coach and his program will get another crack at it on Sunday afternoon (2:15 p.m. ET, CBS) against Midwest Region top seed Michigan.
The Wolverines booted Alabama earlier on Friday night in a 90-77 Sweet 16 victory that cut the SEC down to 1 team in this NCAA Tournament — Barnes’ sixth-seeded Volunteers, who kept the SEC alive and well in this Big Dance later Friday night in Chicago with a 76-62 upset of No. 2 seed Iowa State.
Sure, Barnes’ team had the benefit of playing Iowa State without injured second-leading scorer Joshua Jefferson. But his absence didn’t guarantee Tennessee anything on Friday night, something that wasn’t lost on Barnes as he spoke to reporters in the postgame press conference late Friday night.
“Really proud of our basketball team. We worked really hard defensively. We knew we’d have to have a great effort defensively,” Barnes said. “This time of year, it’s always tough to lose a key guy like they did. That’s the tough part about it. But very proud of our guys and the effort they made.”
Barnes didn’t single out any one player during his opening statement to reporters.
“Everybody had a hand in us winning this game,” he said.
It’ll likely take a similar effort from Barnes’ entire team to survive Michigan on Sunday. The Wolverines have been installed by DraftKings as an early 7.5-point favorite in the Midwest Region final, but the Volunteers are no stranger to being an underdog in this NCAA Tournament. Tennessee (25-11) will try to take down the top 3 seeds in the Midwest Region on the way to its first ever Final Four, after knocking off No. 3 seed Virginia in the second round followed by Friday night’s upset of No. 2 seed Iowa State.
With Tennessee moving on to its third straight Elite 8, here is what the Kalshi market is currently seeing for the 8 teams still in the mix to make it to Indianapolis next week:
Prediction Markets Men's March Madness Final Four Qualifiers Learn more about Prediction Markets Kalshi Michigan 77% Illinois 74% Arizona 71% UConn 34% Purdue 30% Iowa 27% Tennessee 25% St. John's 1% Iowa St. 1% Michigan St. 1% PredictRick Barnes applauds team effort in upset of Iowa State: ‘Everybody had a hand in us winning this game’ Saturday Down South.
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