Why Tennessee basketball will win 2025 NCAA Tournament

Rick Barnes has won a lot of basketball games. He’s collected more than 800 victories since he got his first job in 1987 at George Mason. Barnes has coached in the Big East, the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC. That’s truly an incredible breadth of depth in college basketball.

The veteran coach has taken four different programs to the NCAA tournament. Very few other coaches in this tournament have accomplished that. Barnes has gone to March Madness with Providence, Texas, Clemson and Tennessee. Just last season, Barnes led the Volunteers to the Elite Eight.

That experience gives Barnes an edge that several other coaches don’t have in this tournament. He has simply seen just about every scenario possible in basketball. His experience and knowledge should allow him to match wits with any coach in the field this year.

Barnes’ knowledge has allowed him to do something special this season, which is also another reason why Tennessee can win it all.

The Volunteers have the defense needed to win

There’s an old saying that says offense wins games, but defense wins championships. If that’s true, then Tennessee could reap the rewards of that.

Tennessee has one of the top defenses in America. The Volunteers are 11th nationally in scoring defense, per NCAA stats. That’s good enough for no. 1 in the SEC, the best conference in the country this season.

Tennessee basketball allows only 63 points per game. Before the SEC tournament championship, the team was top 10 in scoring defense. An 86-77 loss to Florida dropped the team in that statistical category, but not by much. Only two power 4 teams are better at stopping teams: Houston and Duke.

“We’re blessed and I just want us to, when it’s all said and done, to know that we maxed out. That we gave it our best effort and we didn’t hold nothing back,” Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said about his team’s NCAA tournament chances, per 247 Sports.

There’s one more reason why Tennessee can win this whole thing.

Tennessee’s matchups in the region are favorable

The Volunteers are the no. 2 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. Tennessee fans are surely studying who else is in that region.

There are some tough matchups, but favorable matchups. The hardest one right away for Tennessee is that they could meet Kentucky again in the Sweet Sixteen round. Tennessee lost to Kentucky this season twice in SEC play.

Both were close games, but the Volunteers allowed 78 points and then 75 points in those losses. This is definitely a challenging matchup for the Volunteers, but the third time could be a charm. Tennessee would have extra time to prepare for this possible matchup which could also help their chances.

The no. 1 seed in the region is Houston, the Big 12 champion. Houston basketball is very tough and they have the second best scoring defense of any team nationally.

The good news for Tennessee is that Houston is not explosive offensively. Houston finished the season ninth in scoring offense in the Big 12. This possible matchup favors the Volunteers, who can rely on their stingy defense to keep them in any game.

Time will tell if this prediction proves correct. Tennessee basketball starts its March Madness journey on Thursday, with a game against no. 15 seed Wofford.