Oklahoma State vs Tennessee Vols NCAA Tournament free pick and preview

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oklahoma state cowboys vs tennessee vols ncaa tournament pick

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Oklahoma State vs Tennessee Pick and Preview

Tennessee Volunteers (19-11) vs Oklahoma State Cowboys (22-11) – East Region, Boston

Tennessee owns the SEC's best RPI ranking, despite tying for the second-best regular-season record in the league with South Carolina and Auburn, three games behind regular-season champion LSU. Playing a very strong non-conference schedule, which included seven teams currently in the Top 50 of the RPI, has boosted the RPI ranking of the Volunteers. However, Tennessee lost five of those seven games: Two losses against Gonzaga, 89-79 and 83-74; an 88-72 loss at Temple; a 54-52 loss against Memphis; and a 92-85 loss at Kansas. Frontcourt players lead the Volunteers. Tyler Smith, a 6-foot-7 junior, averages 17.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while 6-9 junior Wayne Chism averages 13.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Tennessee opened the season ranked in the Top 15 nationally, but the Volunteers fell out of the rankings after a mid-season swoon. Tennessee opened the season 5-0 and 9-2 before losing three of four games. After Jan. 1, the Volunteers did not have a win streak of more than three games. In February and March, they lost four games, all to teams outside the RPI Top 50, including a season-ending loss to Alabama. For the regular season, Tennessee was 6-6 against RPI Top 50 teams and 10-10 against RPI Top 100 teams. BEST WINS: 80-68 vs. Marquette; 78-64 vs. Siena; 86-70 at South Carolina; 79-75 at Florida. WORST LOSSES: 70-67 vs. Alabama; 90-72 vs. Kentucky; 77-58 at Kentucky; 81-65 at Mississippi.

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In early February, when Oklahoma State was mired in a stretch where it had lost six of eight games, the Cowboys looked like anything but a contender for an NCAA Tournament berth. After a Feb. 10 blowout loss at Texas, 99-74, however, something clicked for Oklahoma State, and the Cowboys went on an improbable stretch, where they won seven of eight games, only losing on the road to one of the nation's best teams, Oklahoma, 82-78. Best of all for Cowboys fans, Oklahoma State avenged that loss to the Sooners in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, 71-70. Oklahoma State has played one of the nation's 10 toughest schedules, but it only posted a 4-9 record against the Top 50 of the RPI, including non-conference losses to Big 10 champ Michigan State (94-79), to Pac-10 champ Washington (83-65), and to WCC champ Gonzaga (83-71). On the flip side, the Cowboys beat the teams they were supposed to all season, losing only one game to a team outside the Top 35 of the RPI. Oklahoma State's late surge allowed the Cowboys to finish in a four-way tie for fourth in the Big 12 Conference. James Anderson, a 6-6 sharp-shooting sophomore, leads the Cowboys in a variety of statistical categories, including scoring (18.8) and 3-point shooting (42.2%). Point guard Byron Eaton, a 5-11 senior, averages 14.4 points and 5.5 assists per game. Marshall Moses, a 6-6 sophomore, tends to give the Cowboys a huge boost when he plays well; Oklahoma State is 9-1 when he scores eight or more points. BEST WINS: 77-68 vs. Siena; 68-59 vs. Texas; 72-61 vs. Texas A&M; 71-70 vs. Oklahoma. WORST LOSSES: 98-92 at Baylor; 99-74 at Texas