The obvious goal of the NCAA basketball tournament is to be the last team standing.
Tennessee still believes it can be that team.
“Ever since we got together over the summer, we’ve had one main goal, and that is to hoist that national championship trophy,” senior guard Josiah-Jordan James said earlier this week. “I know that everybody’s will to win is at a high level, and I just have the ultimate faith in my teammates. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I really see us doing big things in the tournament.”
To survive the back end of March and begin April in the Final Four — an event Tennessee’s men have never experienced — the Volunteers must buck their mediocre postseason history as well as their struggles of the past few weeks. There is also the sizable matter of moving past sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler’s season-ending ACL injury, which has been a challenge to this point.
Tennessee (23-10) will open NCAA play Thursday night as the East Region’s fourth seed, with the Vols taking on 13th-seeded Louisiana (26-7) at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The matchup will be televised by CBS with a scheduled 9:40 start.