Tennessee basketball will face Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Friday (approximately 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The No. 5 seed Vols beat No. 12 seed Auburn 72-62 in the second round Thursday at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to advance to the quarterfinals. It is the eighth straight time the Vols have reached the quarterfinals under coach Rick Barnes.
Tennessee (22-10) and Vanderbilt (24-7) split the regular season-meetings.
Tennessee beat the Commodores 69-65 in Nashville on Feb. 21. Vanderbilt won 86-82 in the regular-season finale at Tennessee on Saturday, which dropped the Vols from a double-bye in the conference tournament and to the No. 5 seed.
Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022, its first conference tournament title since 1979. It has reached the finals four times under Barnes, losing to Florida in 2025, Kentucky in 2018 and Auburn in 2019.
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UT was the No. 1 seed in 2024 as the SEC regular-season champions. It lost to Mississippi State in its opener.
The Vols lost in the quarterfinals to Missouri as the No. 5 seed in 2023. They reached the semifinals as the No. 4 seed before losing to top-seeded Alabama in 2021.
Tennessee fell in its opener as the No. 9 seed to Georgia in 2017. It was the No. 12 seed in Barnes’ first season in 2016, winning two games before tumbling in the quarterfinals to LSU.
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Shift with conference tourneys
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