Tennessee entered the 2025 NCAA Tournament as the best program in college basketball without a Final Four appearance. The Volunteers left the 2025 NCAA Tournament as the best program without a Final Four appearance.
Houston made its second Final Four in five seasons under head coach Kelvin Sampson with a 69-50 beatdown of Tennessee in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.
Houston jumped out to a 34-12 lead in the first half as the Vols shot 5-of-13 from two and 1-of-15 from three to fall in a monstrous hole. Tennessee got the deficit down to 10 points with 5:42 left in the second half but a quick 9-2 run by Houston ultimately ended the threat.
The Vols have bowed out of the tournament in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season. Tennessee lost to a No. 1 seed as a No. 2 seed again after losing to Purdue last year. This poor shooting performance came just one game after Tennessee shot 63.2 percent from two in a 78-65 Sweet 16 victory over No. 3 seed Kentucky.
Tennessee has made the NCAA Tournament 27 times. The Vols have 11 Sweet 16 appearances and three Elite Eight appearance. But the Final Four appearance is still missing from the program’s Wikipedia page. Rick Barnes has had a historic coaching career but the 70-year-old is still looking for his first Final Four appearance since 2003. Tennessee has had five top-10 KenPom teams under Barnes in the last seven years but could never get to that third weekend in the NCAA Tournament. The head coach is now just 6-9 in the second weekend and 33-29 in this tournament. Barnes has turned around Tennessee basketball but this program still cannot get over the final hump.
There will be at least one non-SEC game in San Antonio at the Final Four. Houston will face Duke next Saturday.
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