Tennessee basketball secured a spot in the top-four of the Players Era Festival and could play for the title on Nov. 26.
The Vols stand atop the standings in the 18-team tournament following their win against Houston. UT is one of three teams to reach 2-0 and has a point differential of plus-23, which is the highest in the tournament and ranks ahead of other 2-0 teams Kansas and Iowa State.
The top two teams play in a championship game and the third and fourth teams play in a third-place game. Both games are on Nov. 26. The third-place game is a 7 p.m. ET on TNT and the championship game is a 9:30 p.m. ET.
There are two remaining matchups between 1-0 teams as Maryland faces Gonzaga and Auburn face Michigan. It is possible the winners jump the Vols, but Tennessee cannot drop lower than third based on the point differential.
Tennessee would face Kansas for the title if Auburn beats Michigan by 11 or less and either Gonzaga or Maryland wins by single digits. Michigan has a plus-20 point differential, while Auburn has an 11-point edge meaning Michigan could jump Tennessee with a win of more than three points.
Gonzaga has a plus-10 point differential and Maryland has a plus-seven margin.
Tennessee hammered Rutgers 85-60 on Nov. 24 in its opening game. Ja'Kobi Gillespie had a career-high 32 points with a career-best six 3-pointers. Nate Ament scored 20 points.
The Vols rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Houston 76-73 behind 22 points from Gillespie and outstanding performances from Bishop Boswell (10 points) and Jaylen Carey (13 points and seven rebounds).
The Players Era Festival determines the matchups for the third game by rankings teams based on record, head-to-head record, plus-minus tiebreaker with a maximum of 20 points per game, total points scored, total points allowed and AP ranking entering the tournament.
The teams ranked 5-14 after the first two games also play on Nov. 26 with teams from the same conference reseeded to avoid matchups. The tournament also took into account when teams played on Nov. 25 and avoiding nonconference game rematches.
The bottom four teams play Nov. 27.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basketball schedule, Vols opponent in Players Era