Elite 8 Preview: No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 5 Michigan State Spartans

Elite 8 Preview: No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers vs. No. 5 Michigan State Spartans

2010-03-30

In a great Elite 8 matchup set to take place on Sunday March 28, 2010 at St. Louis, No. 6 seeded Tennessee will face No. 5 seeded Michigan State as the Volunteers will play in the a regional final game for the first time in school history. Both teams are looking to prove that they belong among the elite teams of college basketball this season, and Sunday's game should be very competitive. The Midwest bracket was supposed to be either Kansas or Ohio State playing for a spot in the Final Four, with some choosing Georgetown or Maryland to find a lot of success.

The Spartans (27 - 8) were the No. 5 seed in this year's Midwest Regional, knocking off 12th seeded New Mexico State and No. 4 seeded Maryland. Then they met with No. 9 seeded Northern Iowa, which shocked No. 1 seeded Kansas in the previous round.

Coach Tom Izzo’s been to 5 Final Fours during his time as the head coach in East Lansing, Michigan; this is his time of the year, and this shows how dominant a head coach he is. Add in superstar Durrell Summers, who had his best, maybe best of the tournament, offensive game of the NCAA tournament on Friday night, and voted best team player Draymond Green among others and their improbable, probable now, run will continue on to Indianapolis to the Final Four and hopefully to another Michigan State Spartan championship. Without Kalin Lucas, the Michigan State Spartans still held the Panthers without a shot made for the last 10 minutes, 21 seconds of the game.

The Tennessee Volunteers (28 - 8) have had a long year dealing with injuries, arrests and player suspensions all in this one season, but are still just one win away from their first ever Final Four appearance in Indianapolis.

Korie Lucious and crew will struggle to take care of the rock against the Tennessee Vols defense, allowing the Tennessee Volunteers to run when they want to, and they can’t do anything about it. In the last three tournament games the sophomore has 8 assists and 4 turnovers, but he’s shooting only 39.1 percent for those three games. Lucious will have to shoot well if the Michigan State Spartans expect to get to the Final Four.

Wayne Chism had a great second half on Friday night, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the last 20 minutes against the Ohio State Buckeyes. But that’s only child’s play compared to the number of people the Spartans will put on him. I expect Chism to have a tough game and he may get frustrated down in the paint and start moving to the outside perimeter, which will be bad for his team. Wayne Chism and Brian Williams will both combine to control the backboards and the inside paint as they did in their teams win over Ohio State Buckeyes.

www.sportsbook.com has the Vols as 1.5 point favorites and the over / under at 136.5. The game will be close, but expect Tom Izzo and his team to find a way to beat the Vols.

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