March Madness 2023 bracket busters: 5 high seeds that will go down early

2. Potential bracket busters – Tennessee Volunteers

The mantra that defense wins championships could steer some people toward picking Tennessee to make a deep run in March Madness. The Volunteers do have one of the nation’s stingiest defenses, allowing just 58.3 points per game and ranking as KenPom’s second-most efficient unit, but you also have to score to win basketball games.

Offense has been sporadic at best for Tennessee, which is prone to long stretches without scoring in games. The lack of firepower that the Volunteers possess leads them to play plenty of close games, which is a dangerous recipe when you have to win six one-and-done games in a single-elimination tournament.

There are also coaching questions with Rick Barnes, who is a tremendous regular season coach who has had his fair share of disappointments in March Madness. Barnes has put together some tremendous seasons for Tennessee that have failed to advance past the Sweet 16, including last year’s 26-win team getting upset by 11-seed Michigan in the Round of 32.

The late-season skid cost the Volunteers a few seed lines as they fell to a 4-seed in the East, setting them up with Louisiana in Round 1 and either Duke or Oral Roberts in the Round of 32. Tennessee isn’t playing well enough to beat any of them so they could easily bust some brackets.