NCAA Basketball: Preseason picks to be No. 1 seeds in 2024 NCAA Tournament

Tennessee Volunteers 

2022-23: 25-11 (11-7 in SEC), NCAA Tournament: Sweet Sixteen

The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the best defensive teams in the country over the past few years, ranking in the top five in defensive efficiency each of the last three years. The problems for them have come at the other end of the floor. To say they’ve struggled to score at times would be an understatement. Head coach Rick Barnes hopes to remedy some of that this season with a healthy Zakai Zeigler and some of the additions made to the roster, most notably Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey who join the program from Northern Colorado and the University of South Carolina-Upstate.

Knecht averaged 20 points per game and over seven rebounds, but where he’ll improve the Volunteers the most is from beyond the arc where he shot over 38% last season. The same goes for Gainey who netted over 15 per game and his 34% three-point shooting is better than all but one returning player, Santiago Vescovi (37%). Speaking of Vescovi, the 6-3 guard returns for his super-senior season to provide Tennessee with one of the best backcourts in the SEC. Josiah-Jordan James also returns to the Volunteers’ frontcourt with his grit, toughness, and extremely high basketball IQ.

Expect to see a bit more athleticism out of Tennessee this season, especially if freshman Cam Carr and redshirt freshman D.J. Jefferson show enough offensively to see meaningful minutes. Joining James in the frontcourt should be junior Jonas Aidoo and sophomore Tobe Awaka who will see increased roles this season. Aidoo has shown the ability to stretch the floor, and his younger running mate is a bigger-bodied forward at 6-8 who does the dirty work on the glass. If health and the fresh faces can help alleviate some of Tennessee’s offensive woes, then a No. 1 seed is absolutely a possibility for Barnes and his squad.

The SEC has gotten much deeper over the last few seasons and that should help the Volunteers when it comes to building their tournament resume. Before they get to that part of their schedule, their most important stretch comes at the end of November when they have the Maui Invitational where they begin against Syracuse with a game against either Purdue or Gonzaga looming. To end the month they travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Tennessee’s non-conference slate isn’t as daunting as some others, but an improved offense along with good showings in November and league play could be enough to get them to a No. 1 seed.