Tennessee's path to an NCAA men's basketball tournament run begins close to home against the darling of two years ago.
The Volunteers were selected Sunday evening as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and will open Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, against the 15th-seeded Saint Peter's Peacocks. This is the sixth consecutive NCAA tourney invitation Tennessee has received — the 68-team event was not held in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus — matching the program record set from 2006-11 in the Bruce Pearl era.
"I told our team that we've got to look at it as the Charlotte Invitational right now," Vols coach Rick Barnes said Sunday night in a news conference. "It's us and Saint Peter's, and we'll go from there. I congratulated our guys, because you don't ever want to take this time of year for granted. They've worked hard all year to put themselves in position to earn the seed that they have, and I think they'll be excited to play.
"We're blessed to have this opportunity, and now it's time to make the most of it."
The Vols (24-8) and Peacocks (19-13) have the final game Thursday night, with a scheduled 9:20 tip on TNT.
Tennessee enters the NCAA tournament as the Southeastern Conference's outright regular-season champion for the first time since 2008. The Vols, however, also enter on a two-game losing streak, having fallen to Kentucky 85-81 in their regular-season finale in Knoxville before getting thumped by Mississippi State 73-56 this past Friday in the SEC tournament quarterfinals in Nashville.
Should the Vols prevail Thursday night, they would play the winner of seventh-seeded Texas (20-12) and Tuesday night's winner of a First Four matchup between Colorado State (24-10) and Virginia (23-10), which are both 10 seeds.
"It's the most exciting part of the year for everyone," Vols fifth-year senior guard Santiago Vescovi said. "Sometimes we take for granted making the tournament. I think it's a big accomplishment that we've made it six years in a row."
Saint Peter's, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champion, made history in the 2022 NCAA tourney by becoming the first 15th seed to win three games to reach the Elite Eight. The school located in Jersey City, New Jersey, stunned second-seeded Kentucky 85-79 in overtime, seventh-seeded Murray State 70-60, and third-seeded Purdue 67-64 before falling to eighth-seeded North Carolina 69-49.
Peacocks freshman guard Armoni Zeigler is the 6-foot-4, 185-pound, half-brother of Vols junior point guard Zakai Zeigler, who stands just 5-9, 171, but was recently named the SEC defensive player of the year. The younger Zeigler played in all 32 games for the Peacocks, starting 10 and averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds.
"I told Zakai that he was going to have to guard his brother," Vescovi said, "and he said, 'No, you've got him. He's 6-5.' I think it's going to be a great moment for both of them."
Said Barnes: "That's an interesting little sideline there."
Saint Peter's junior forward Michael Houge played at Chattanooga Christian and averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds for the 2019-20 Chargers. The 6-7, 225-pound Houge signed with Division II Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina, and then transferred to Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tennessee, before winding up with the Peacocks.
Houge has averaged 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds this season.
Tennessee securing a No. 2 seed matched its highest NCAA tournament status, with the Vols also achieving the feat in 2006, 2008 and 2019. The Vols have been seeded fifth or better in each of their previous NCAA trips under Barnes but have lost to a lower-seeded team on each occasion.
"We are where we are right now," Barnes said. "I think we know who we are and what we need to do. It's a whole new season."
According to BetOnline, only Connecticut (4/1), Houston (11/2) and Purdue (7/1) have better odds to win the national championship than Tennessee at 15/1. Arizona is also 15/1, while SEC tourney champ Auburn is 17/1.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.