No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

The Tennessee Vols will play the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sweet 16 at the Midwest Regional semifinals in St. Louis Friday night at 7:00 pm eastern time. The game is a rematch of the 2007 Sweet 16 matchup in which Ohio State beat the Vols narrowly 85 - 8

2010-03-23

Head Coach Bruce Pearl plays eleven players at least eleven minutes per game and has ridden senior forward Wayne Chism, on the floor and in the locker room, as we’ve all seen during the games. Tennessee doesn't have much star power on its roster, the player the Vols wished they had on the court with them is Tyler Smith, but they have played great team ball so far. In two tournament games, the Tennessee Vols have only allowed their opponents to shoot just .382 from the field (42 - 110) and .295 from behind the three point line. In the frontcourt Brian Williams, 6’10”, will play alongside Chism and make it tough for the Buckeyes to defend them. Ohio State will have its hands full against this balanced, defensively oriented squad that confuses and frustrates its opponents.

The Ohio State Buckeyes can attribute their successes to the spectacular play of Evan Turner, which has made them one of the better teams in the country the last two months. Ohio State finished the season tied for first in their conference, and only lost twice since the middle of January. In the conference tournament and in Sunday's second round win over Georgia Tech, the 6'7" junior has played like the candidate for National Player of the Year, his play included a game-winning shot from just inside half court in the conference tournament and a 29 point, 9 rebound and 9 assist performance in the team's 75 - 66 win over the Yellow Jackets, very close to attaining a triple double. In addition to Turner, Jon Diebler is another player to watch out for; he’s considered the best shooter on this Buckeyes team. The Ohio State Buckeyes’ short bench is a concern as they go farther into the tournament, they will be tested when their usual rotation starts to get fatigued.

Here are some strange facts; Ohio State is similar to Tennessee in that all but one of each team's losses came on the road. Tennessee lost an early season game to Purdue on a neutral court, and Ohio State lost to North Carolina on a neutral court. After that, Ohio State and Tennessee lost only one game at home all season. Lastly their overall records are Tennessee Vols 27 - 8, Ohio State Buckeyes 28 – 7, a little too strange, and this is probably why this game is going to be the best one out of all the Sweet 16 matchups.

At www.sportsbook.com the line is currently at 4.5 points in favor of the Buckeyes, but this will be a close game and I would take the Vols and their points, but the Buckeyes will probably edge them out for the win.

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