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Tennessee (18-8) will play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region.
The NCAA selection committee announced Sunday that the Vols will play in the first-round against 12th-seeded Oregon State.
The Vols and Beavers will play Friday at 4:30 p.m. EDT from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The contest will be televised by TNT.
Ahead of playing Oregon State, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes previewed the Vols before playing in the NCAA Tournament. Below is a transcript provided by the University of Tennessee.
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On his thoughts on being the fifth seed in the Midwest region and his initial thoughts on Oregon State playing well off a conference tournament championship:
“Well, you’re right. I think our guys are just excited, and obviously we came to Nashville wanting to win a conference championship, but I do like where our guys are. I thought they played their hearts out yesterday and had a good day together today. We stayed here in Nashville, and we’ll get up and head to Indianapolis tomorrow, get checked in there, and get back at it. But you mentioned it, Oregon State finished as strong as any team in the country. They won their conference, beat Oregon, UCLA, and Colorado in that order, which shows how well they are playing. A team that’s been coached well, they’ve gotten better, and playing their best basketball right now. Most teams that are playing right now are capable of playing their best basketball, and I like to think that we’re on the verge of doing that as well.”
NEXT: Rick Barnes previews NCAA Tournament continued