Author Archives: Joel Hollingsworth

Once upon a time, the Tennessee Vols basketball team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for two straight weeks. Hey, that’s about as rare as a woo-less Rocky Top, so it was cause for celebration.

But honestly, the AP and Coaches Polls matter as much to college basketball as the points in Whose Line is it Anyway. Not only do they have zero impact on the crowning of the national champion, they’re not even considered by the all-important folks sending out the save-the-dates come March.

Nope. The only thing that matters in college basketball is getting into the Big Dance and getting a cushy spot in the bracket. But is there really much of a difference between a 1-seed and a 2-seed? I’m going to repeat that question now as a heading because after all, it’s what this post is all about. Duh.

Do 1-seeds do any better in the Tournament than 2-seeds?

A lot of stuff can happen late in the season just prior to Selection Sunday, but how important is it for fans to root for their team to earn a No. 1 seed?

Pretty important, as it turns out. Here’s a look at the seeds of the winners, the runners-up, and other Final Four participants since the Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985:

And here’s how all of that data breaks down into categories:

Whoa. A full 62% of the winners were No. 1 seeds, and there’s a huge drop off for 2-seeds, who won the whole enchilada only 15% of the time. The advantage of seeding for the rest of the Final Four field isn’t quite as pronounced, but it’s there, and it’s significant.

Sure, every once in a while some 11-seed will crash the party with a scrappy nun in tow and scare the pants off everybody, but usually the final weekend features the No Surprises All-Star team. And more often than not, the team cutting down the net in April is one that was sitting pretty on the top line on Selection Sunday.

The Tennessee Volunteers (15-1, 4-0 SEC) beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 106-87 in Thompson-Boling Arena last night. It was the first time they hit the 100-point mark against an SEC opponent since 2008, and it was the most points they’ve scored on an SEC opponent since 2000, when they beat Georgia, 110-83.

The game was close for a mere five minutes, the point at which Jordan Bowden – who is hell-bent on stealing the Sixth Man of the Year Award from defending SMOTY and teammate Lamonte Turner – came into the game. Bowden wasted no time in stuffing the stat sheet and finished the game nearly perfect: 6-7 from the field, 5-6 from the arc, and 2-2 from the free throw line for 19 points. He even smiled at one point.

Not to be outdone, Turner put up a team-high 21 points on a similarly near-perfect night. He went 6-8 from the field, 3-4 from three, and 6-6 from the stripe. So, iron sharpens iron, huh? Who knew?

Meanwhile, the defense held Daniel Gafford to 10 points and turned the Hogs’ assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.32 heading into the game into a flat .84.

All of that said, Rick Barnes still wasn’t happy. Because the Hogs outscored his guys 53-51 in the second half. Oh also, because Lamonte Turner made a bad pass.

In all, the bench had to score 31 points in the first half. Notorious slackers Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield had only 18 and 17 points, respectively, and although Williams was 14-14 from the free throw line, he let some sweat drip on the floor, which is totally unacceptable. Someone could slip and poke an eye out, Mr. Williams.

Schofield scored the first 14 points of the second half. Ball hog.

Kyle Alexander had 12 points, but really, he should have had like 20 rebounds and 40 points in putbacks because he’s tall and used to play volleyball.

As a team, the Vols missed four of their 39 free throw attempts and should be sent immediately to that torturous stair-climber Daymeon Fishback loves so much.

Tennessee won this game, but they better get their act together or it’s going to be a long season.

Up next, Alabama at Thompson-Boling on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. ESPN2.