No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 14 Longwood preview for March Madness first-round matchup

The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 15th with the First Four, and then moves on to the first round on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18. No. 3 seed Tennessee will face No. 14 seed Longwood in the first round on Thursday. Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the Volunteers and Lancers in this year’s March Madness Tournament.

Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.

Game date: Thursday, March 17
Game time: 2:45 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Odds: Tennessee -17

No. 3 Tennessee

Tennessee is a team who had a ton of hype heading into the 2021-22 season. Bringing back Santiago Vescovi and John Fulkerson with five-star freshman guard Kennedy Chandler coming in gave the Vols a strong squad and it has shown. Chandler and Vescovi lead the team in scoring with just over 13 points per game.

Rick Barnes is a veteran coach and has an experienced team as well. They have the looks of a team who could make an NCAA Tournament run and they will look to do so with their automatic bid from winning the SEC Tournament.

Record: 26-7, 14-4 SEC
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 36
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 3
Against The Spread: 19-13-0
Over Total: 13-18-1
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +3500

No. 14 Longwood

The Longwood Lancers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, though they have only been eligible for the event since 2012. Longwood won the Big South with a victory over Winthrop to find themselves in the big dance. They won their conference on March 6th, so they’ve had plenty of time off in between games.

Longwood has three players scoring more than 10 points per game including Justin Hill, Isaiah Wilkins and Deshaun Wade. Hill runs the show and leads the team in scoring and assists, while Wilkins is the top rebounder despite being just 6-foot-4. The Lancers’ strengths come on the offensive end, and they’ll need to play their best game in Round 1.

Record: 26-6, 15-1 Big South
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 115
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 191
Against The Spread: 19-9
Over Total: 15-13
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +50000