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NCAA Basketball: 12 teams with most pressure to win in 2023-24 season

By Tristan Freeman

Mar 16, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter guides his team’s practice for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchBasketball Ncaa Men S Basketball TournamentSyndication The Columbus Dispatch
Mar 16, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter guides his team’s practice for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchBasketball Ncaa Men S Basketball TournamentSyndication The Columbus Dispatch /
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Tennessee forward Uros Plavsic (33) picks up Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler Kns Vols Hoops South Carolina Bp
Tennessee forward Uros Plavsic (33) picks up Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler Kns Vols Hoops South Carolina Bp /

5. Tennessee Volunteers

With so many long-time head coaches leaving NCAA Basketball, guys like Rick Barnes move up the rankings as one of the best still around. Including his days at Texas, Clemson, and Providence, the current Tennessee HC has 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, along with a Final Four in 2003.

Barnes has been very consistent with the Vols, getting no worse than a 5 seed in the last five trips to the Big Dance. However, the results in March haven’t matched up to its seeding, making it to the Sweet 16 just twice. That included last season but they lost to Florida Atlantic in an upset, which was bad considering how wide-open that region was after Purdue lost to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.

This current roster could be the best for Coach Barnes since he arrived in Knoxville. Not only is leading scorer Santiago Vescovi back along with starting point guard Zakai Zeigler but they added two quality offensive scoring transfers in Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey.

The big theme with the Vols has been offensive concerns at times and that seems to have been addressed. And right now, some have even picked Tennessee to win the SEC this season. If they struggled or come up short in March again, Barnes will have to answer for it.

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