Gameday on Rocky Top

The Vols are now as far as anyone has ever gone here, from a seed as good as anyone has ever earned here, on a path as tough as anyone has ever faced here. And we're not done yet.

Elite Eight & Everyday Privilege | Gameday on Rocky Top We don’t have many Elite Eight reflexes, but one thing I do remember from 14 years ago: this day between is strange. There is so very much to celebrate, so much uncharted territory. But also, in around 24 hours – a short amount of time, considering it took 31284710 hours […]

A Word of Thanks - as things are slowing down on our site in the (happily!) changing rhythms of our lives, a moment to say thanks for all who've spent a few words with us over all these years.

A Word of Thanks | Gameday on Rocky Top Our family moved back to Knoxville a year ago now. I often joke that I need a side gig with the chamber of commerce, because I’m not sure anyone is happier to be here. In that time, it’s been a delight to watch our church and our children grow. My […]

What's your SEC preference: nine games & keep the Alabama rivalry, or eight games where UT is the only team to play Vanderbilt every year?

We drew up some mock 2024 & 2025 schedules for UT, trying to look at how the other opponents might be balanced.

Playing with Mock SEC Football Schedules for 2024-25 | Gameday on Rocky Top We could get some news from Destin next week on the 2024 SEC football schedule, with the long-awaited debut of Texas and Oklahoma in the league. Everything in college football, from the expanded playoff to the return of the video game, is headed toward change one year from now. Both […]

It's the debut of the 2023 Expected Win Total Machine. How many games do you think the Vols will win this fall? Here's the best way to find out.

The 2023 Expected Win Total Machine | Gameday on Rocky Top Hello, old friend. With spring practice behind us, we unveil the first edition of our Expected Win Total Machine. Last season, we found running it after the Orange & White Game produced almost exactly the same result as running it the week before kickoff. Perhaps that would change if you […]

Tennessee is one of 17 programs with multiple Sweet 16s in the last four tourneys.

In our 7th Sweet 16 since 2000, this is only the second time the Vols have been seeded multiple spots higher than their opponent.

Nothing is easy. But UT is thriving in the hard.

Alive, Kickin', and Doors | Gameday on Rocky Top These are the days you enjoy the most, because later this week it’s gonna get stressful again. That’s the beauty of the beast, especially in a world where 16 seeds can win and 15 seeds are in the Sweet 16 again. The tournament only allows enough time to celebrate the […]

Duke led 19-13 with eight minutes to play in the first half.

They scored two points the rest of the half, and were outscored by the Vols 52-33 the rest of the game.

One of our biggest tournament wins, behind one of our biggest tournament performances.
https://gamedayonrockytop.com/tennessee-volunteers-basketball/tennessee-65-duke-52-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-o/

Tennessee 65 Duke 52 - Brought to you by the letter O | Gameday on Rocky Top Yes sir. We’re no stranger to big wins these days; this team has three over one and two seeds this year alone. Rick Barnes and company have erased the ghosts of Rupp Arena, beat great Kentucky teams in Knoxville and Nashville, and took down top-ranked foes multiple times. In our […]

Tennessee and Duke have met one time since 1980. If the Vols can take down another marquee opponent this season, they'll earn one of the best tournament wins in school history.

The Next One is the Best One | Gameday on Rocky Top So maybe Tennessee and Duke will meet right away next year in the inaugural SEC/ACC Challenge. As your profile rises, more teams are willing to say yes. Consider this: the Vols and Kansas never met before 2009. And now we’ve seen the Jayhawks seven times in the last 15 seasons, […]

The bracket awaits. What makes for UT's best bball?

20-0 when holding teams under 60.
21-3 with less than 20 fouls.
15-1 with a 39+% offensive rebound percentage.

And as Barnes loves to increase minutes in March, what might more Josiah (or Julian?) do?

Blueprint for the Bracket | Gameday on Rocky Top I love the simplicity of the NCAA Tournament. It takes a minute to get there sometimes: last year the Vols rode an emotional wave on Selection Sunday, winning the SEC Tournament only to still be disappointed with a three seed. For better and for worse, no such drama is available […]

UT is still on the three line in the Bracket Matrix headed to Nashville. I think it's about more reps without Zeigler as much as anything seed wise.

In good news: UT will make a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament for just the third time in school history.

Bracket Math - Championship Week | Gameday on Rocky Top In Sunday’s Bracket Matrix, the Vols are holding on the three line. Following the loss to Auburn, Tennessee is the last of the three seeds there, 12th overall. Joe Lunardi’s bracket from Sunday evening agrees. And the Vols are still third in NET, one of only 10 teams with 7+ […]

The Vols are:

17-0 when holding opponents under 60
17-2 when opponents shoot 20 free throws or less
13-1 when offensive rebounding at 40+%
14-2 when shooting 30+% from three

And each of those losses is Missouri or Vandy, the only teams to hit 10+ threes.

Best Available Blueprint | Gameday on Rocky Top March approaches. Tennessee is holding firm on the three line in the Bracket Matrix, with clear divisions emerging among the top ten teams. At this point it would be a surprise to see something other than the current groupings in the matrix on the one and two lines, plus Kansas […]

UT will go for their sixth ranked win of the season at A&M. Thus the weirdness: 5-1 vs the Top 25, 0-2 vs unranked Kentucky, 0-2 at the buzzer. That's a lot of feelings.

But five ranked wins trails only three UT squads for the most in program history.

Yep, this team has the most ranked wins since... | Gameday on Rocky Top Tennessee goes for its sixth ranked win of the year at #25 Texas A&M on Tuesday night. The Vols, in fact, are 5-1 against the Top 25 this year (and 4-1 against the Top 15), the lone loss at #9 Arizona. Tennessee got it done against #3 Kansas, #13 Maryland, […]

After Zeigler hit a free throw to make it 44-40 with 12:37 to play, Alabama never got back within one possession. And when they threatened late, it was, fittingly, an offensive rebound and a steal that helped seal it.

The Vols beat #1 by being themselves.

A Song About Tennessee | Gameday on Rocky Top Just on the basketball side of things, just for a moment. Tennessee has now beaten #3 Kansas, #10 Texas, and #1 Alabama. It’s February 15. That’s good, because last year’s team beat #6 Arizona, #4 Kentucky, #3 Auburn, then #5 Kentucky again for good measure. In 2019, the Vols beat […]

In 2022, what made for UT's worst basketball was easily identifiable: 7-4 with 14+ turnovers.

In 2023, two of our best wins (Kansas & Starkville) included 41 turnovers. Is there an argument to create from chaos vs a Bama defense that causes it less often?

Tennessee, Alabama, Tempo & Turnovers | Gameday on Rocky Top What’s the best way to follow back-to-back heartbreak? Here comes the biggest opportunity of the season. Tennessee and Alabama have played some good ones, with four of the last five meetings being decided by five points or less. Since Nate Oats arrived, Alabama has won three of four: the Vols […...

In the Barnes era, the only teams to hit more than 14 threes vs UT are Auburn, Colgate, & Purdue in 2019...who did it in a span of 11 days against maybe our best team.

This sport can be weird sometimes. This week certainly qualifies.

Next week is huge.

The most important step remains the next one | Gameday on Rocky Top It was a “check the media guide” night, and sadly not in the fun way. Apparently I’d blocked from memory that Vanderbilt hit 18 threes against us in 2005, the Thompson-Boling Arena record. In Rick Barnes’ tenure, at least, the only teams to hit more than the 14 Missouri fired […]

If the Vols make shots, that's awesome. But the Vanderbilt game highlighted the greatest opportunity for improvement in Tennessee's offense: getting to the free throw line.

Common Threads, Connecting Dots, and Free Throws | Gameday on Rocky Top If defense is the constant, predicting what we need on the offensive end is still a moving target. So, sure: make shots. The Vols are 227th nationally in effective field goal percentage, the lowest ranking of any of the Rick Barnes tournament teams in Knoxville. In SEC play, the shooting […]

Florida is UT's first loss that had more to do with three-point shooting than offensive rebounding. Like their predecessors under Barnes, Pearl, etc., even the best Vol squads aren't bulletproof.

If UT is cold, how hot does the other team have to be?

Best Is Not Bulletproof | Gameday on Rocky Top Even with the loss at Florida, the Vols are projected to finish the regular season at 25-6 (14-4) in both Torvik and KenPom. In recent history, that number would be topped only by 2000 (24-5), 2008 (28-3), and 2019 (27-4). Of course, that probably doesn’t make Wednesday’s loss feel much […]

In the 2023 Vols vs Past Teams conversation, we sometimes imagine the past as:

- 2018 Defense + 2019 Offense
- March versions of 2010 & 2014
- A healthy Chris Lofton in 2008

If the current team is simply in the conversation with those ideas? We're good.

The 2023 Vols vs A Hybrid of Tennessee's Best | Gameday on Rocky Top The Vols continue to play at an all-time pace in Knoxville, by any metric you want. In raw wins, 17-3 through the first 20 games trails only 2000 (18-2), 2008 (18-2), and 2019 (19-1). In the polls, the 2000 Vols topped out at #5, while both 2008 and 2019 went […]

After playing eight-man rotations in 2019 & 2020 and a glorified seven in 2021, the Vols went ten deep last season. It's back again this year, flexible to UT's advantage when multiple players are out.

Like last year, will we see a true "best five" emerge?

Sharpening The Swiss Army Knife | Gameday on Rocky Top At the under eight in Starkville, Tennessee led 50-49. The Vols got five straight points from Zakai Zeigler, then traded four consecutive threes with Mississippi State in a wild sequence. The last of them, an open look from Josiah-Jordan James, put Tennessee up 61-55 with 4:34 to play. Fun moments [...