{"id":193584,"date":"2026-03-16T15:26:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193584\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:26:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:26:26","slug":"the-pros-and-cons-of-tennessee-basketball-facing-smu-or-miami-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193584\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pros And Cons Of Tennessee Basketball Facing SMU Or Miami (Ohio)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"<\/a>Photo By Andrew Ferguson\/Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n

Tennessee basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight time, landing as a six-seed in the Midwest Region. But the Vols\u2019 first round opponent is not yet set. Tennessee gets the winner of the First Four game between SMU and Miami (Ohio).<\/p>\n

The Vols won\u2019t find out their fate until Wednesday night when the two teams face off. But which would be better for Tennessee? Taking a look at the pros and cons for each matchup.<\/p>\n

More From RTI:\u00a0Tipoff Time, Broadcast Details Set For Tennessee Basketball\u2019s Opening Game In NCAA Tournament<\/a>
\nSMU<\/a>
\nPros<\/p>\n

SMU Has Struggled As Of Late<\/p>\n

SMU looked like a lock to make the NCAA Tournament midway through February. But the Mustangs are limping into the Big Dance. They lost their final four games of the regular season before winning one game in the ACC Tournament.<\/p>\n

Since Valentine\u2019s Day, SMU ranks just 63rd nationally on Bart Torvik. That number drops all the way to 97th if you start on Feb. 25, the day the Mustangs\u2019 losing streak began.<\/p>\n

Former Tennessee guard B.J. Edwards has missed five straight games but could return to the court this week. That would be a big boost. But still, SMU is struggling as of late.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re A Bad Defensive Rebounding Team<\/p>\n

SMU is a solid offensive rebounding team but has struggled on the defensive glass all season, ranking just 228th nationally. Tennessee\u2019s one constant this season is its ability to dominate on the offensive glass. That should be no different if the Vols face SMU.<\/p>\n

Now, converting on those opportunities is another story. Tennessee has struggled to do that all season. SMU has an average two-point defense but is overall pretty good at forcing longer twos and taking away shots at the rim.<\/p>\n

Cons<\/p>\n

SMU Shoots The Ball Well From Three-Point Range<\/p>\n

SMU\u2019s biggest strength is its ability to shoot from the perimeter. The Mustangs are shooting 37.4% from three-point range this season, a mark that ranks 24th nationally.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most difficult part about defending them is the number of capable three-point shooters they have. Four SMU players have shot over 37% from three-point range while making 40-plus triples over the course of the season.<\/p>\n

They Have A True Star\u00a0<\/p>\n

Point guard Boopie Miller is SMU\u2019s best three-point shooter, making 64 triples at a 41% clip this season. Miller is a true start, entering the NCAA Tournament averaging 19.2 points, 6.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n

He hit a game-winning half court shot against Virginia Tech and can take over games. Miller is the best player that Tennessee could play in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

More From RTI:\u00a0Rick Barnes Says \u2018Knocking Rust Off\u2019 In SEC Tournament Good For Tennessee Star Nate Ament<\/a>
\nMiami (Ohio)<\/a>
\nPros<\/p>\n

They\u2019re The Worst At Large Bid According to Analytics<\/p>\n

Miami (Ohio) undoubtedly deserved to make the NCAA Tournament after going 31-0 in the regular season. But they are the worst at large bid according to the analytic sites. KenPom ranks them No. 93 while Bart Torvik ranks them No. 86.<\/p>\n

Even teams who earned automatic bids like High Point, Hofstra, Northern Iowa, McNeese and Akron rank higher than the RedHawks.<\/p>\n

Somewhat tying into that, Miami (Ohio) has not played a power five opponent this season. Facing Tennessee would be a different beat for them.<\/p>\n

They Have A Small Front Line<\/p>\n

As is often the issue for mid majors once they get into the NCAA Tournament, Miami (Ohio) is not a big team. The RedHawks tallest player in the rotation is 6-foot-9. They play just three players that are 6-foot-8 or taller.<\/p>\n

Tennessee would have a real advantage inside that they should be able to exploit on the offensive end of the court and on the glass.<\/p>\n

Cons<\/p>\n

There Will Be A Pro Miami (Ohio) Crowd<\/p>\n

There likely will not be a ton of Tennessee fans in Philadelphia. If the Vols face SMU then their will likely be a neutral crowd. But if Tennessee faces Miami (Ohio) and its Cinderella story, then it will be a pro RedHawks crowd at Well Fargo Arena.<\/p>\n

They Have Been Money In Close Games<\/p>\n

How has Miami (Ohio) won so many games despite the analytics site not being super high on them? They\u2019re absolutely money in tight games. The RedHawks are 15-1 in games decided by less than 10 points and 11-1 in games decided by five or less points.<\/p>\n

Analytic sites would say that\u2019s simply being lucky. And there is an element of luck involved. But there\u2019s also something to be said about knowing how to win tight games.<\/p>\n

On the opposite end, Tennessee has blown big leads this season. Combine that dynamic with the pro RedHawks crowd and the Vols would feel a whole lot better winning comfortably.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo By Andrew Ferguson\/Tennessee Athletics Tennessee basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight time,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124,81956,11474,84627,90003],"class_list":["post-193584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-ohio-basketball","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-smu-basketball","tag-tennessee-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}