KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the 27th time, including a program-best seventh time in a row, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is set to take part in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 8/6 Tennessee (27-7, 12-6 SEC) earned the second seed in the Midwest region, as announced Sunday night on the NCAA Selection Show, live on CBS. The Volunteers will begin play Thursday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., versus No. 15-seeded Wofford (19-15, 10-8 SOCON) in the Round of 64.
Tennessee is 8-0 all-time versus Wofford, including 7-0 at home and 1-0 on the road. The sides have met just once in the last 20 years, an 82-61 home victory on Nov. 14, 2023.
Joining the Volunteers and Terriers in the pod are both seventh-seeded UCLA (22-10, 13-7 B1G) and No. 10-seeded Utah State (26-7, 15-5 MWC). The winner of the Tennessee/Wofford matchup will play Saturday in the Round of 32 versus the UCLA/Utah State victor.
Tennessee owns a 28-27 all-time in NCAA Tournament competition, including a 9-6 mark under 10th-year head coach Rick Barnes, who has the most victories in the event of any coach in program history. The No. 2 seed for the Volunteers ties the program record set in 2005-06, 2007-08, 2018-19 and 2023-24, with the latter two also in Barnes’ tenure.
Houston, the top seed in the Midwest, and Tennessee are the only schools to earn a top-two seed in both the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournaments. Last year, the Volunteers advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time ever.
The Volunteers’ streak of seven straight NCAA Tournament berths eclipses the prior program best of six, set from 2005-06 to 2010-11. Just five other schools are officially in the NCAA Tournament field for at least the seventh consecutive time: Michigan State (27), Gonzaga (26), Purdue (10), Houston (seven) and Kansas (seven). Only one other institution, Baylor, is making even its sixth straight trip.
All seven of Tennessee’s consecutive bids are under the direction of Barnes, who has led the team to a top-five seed in each appearance, including a top-three seed in five of them. The seven top-five seeds under Barnes surpass the program’s previous total (six)—seeding started in 1978-79—before his hiring, while the five top-three seeds are three more than Tennessee had all-time (two) before his arrival.
This is the 29th time Barnes is taking his team to the NCAA Tournament, across four different coaching stops. That moves him past Bob Knight for sole possession of the fourth-most bids all-time at the Division I level. The only coaches with more such appearances are Mike Krzyzewski (36), Jim Boeheim (35) and Roy Williams (30).
Tennessee is one of 14 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament, a new single-season record for any conference, shattering the prior mark of 11.
Game times and TV designations for the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be announced at a later point.
