With Selection Sunday now less than three weeks away, many sports fans at Tennessee sportsbooks are turning their attention to college basketball and the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
At BetTennessee, we wanted to know which programs are the best without an NCAA title. To do that, we created a simple point system that gave schools two points for each appearance and 10 points for each Final Four trip. The results are below.
Many in the Volunteer State have likely been watching college hoops all season. The Tennessee Volunteers Basketball program spent five weeks as the No. 1 in the nation, according to the Associated Press poll, and they are still in the top 10 in the poll and are in line to get a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, at the other end of Interstate 40, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has the Tigers in line for their third trip to the Big Dance in the last four years. Hardaway’s alma mater leads the American Athletic Conference and has been ranked in each of the last nine AP polls.
Both schools have solid traditions of success on the hardwood. Memphis has been to 28 NCAA Tournaments, two more than Tennessee. What neither has is an NCAA title.
They, of course, aren’t the only schools that haven’t cut down the nets after the final game of the season.
Rank | Teams | Points |
1 | Illinois Fighting Illini | 118 |
2 | Houston Cougars | 110 |
3 | Texas Longhorns | 106 |
4 | Purdue Boilermakers | 100 |
5 | Memphis Tigers | 84 |
6 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 82 |
7 | St. John’s Red Storm | 80 |
8 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 72 |
9 | BYU Cougars | 62 |
10 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 60 |
*Only teams currently projected to make 2025 NCAA Tournament are included
Memphis comes in fifth thanks in large part to the three Final Fours the program has reached since basketball started there in 1954. The Tigers have a pair of trips to the final. In 1973, they (then known as Memphis State) lost 87-66 to UCLA, and 35 years later Memphis lost in heartbreaking fashion to Kansas 75-68 in overtime. Coach John Calipari’s team led 59-51 with 2:12 remaining in regulation, and the Jayhawks needed a 3-pointer with less than :10 left to force the OT.
CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm has Memphis projected as a No. 6 seed in his latest mock pairings. While they’re a near-lock to make the tournament, Fanatics Sportsbook TN oddsmakers give Memphis odds of +15000 to win its first title this year and +4500 to make the Final Four.
As we previously noted, the Vols have made the tournament 26 times. However, the Knoxville school is still looking for its first trip to a Final Four.
Last season, coach Rick Barnes took Tennessee to the Elite Eight, where the Volunteers fell 72-66 to Purdue. That was the school’s second regional final appearance. In 2010, they played Michigan State for a chance to make the national semifinals but lost 70-69 after Raymar Martin hit a free throw with :02 left.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Vols as a No. 2 seed in his current mock bracket. Expect them to garner a lot of attention from bettors this year, as FanDuel has Tennessee as its sixth choice on the NCAA champion futures board at +1500. The Volunteers also have odds of +290 to reach their first Final Four this year.
USA Today photo by Wesley Hale.
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Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
