Show Me My Opponent, 2022-23: USC, Battle 4 Atlantis

to see his beloved son come sailing home from Troy

In the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis But Not the Underwater City or the Empire Plato Wrote About, Just a Hotel in the Bahamas, Tennessee demolished top-100 Butler by 26 points once they started running the Make Shots offense. Opponent USC, meanwhile, looked like it was going to steamroll BYU, leading by as much as 18, before letting the Cougars back into the game late.

How much scouting one team’s able to do on another in these scenarios is always variable. USC played first, so they may have some very minor advantage in scouting, but both get one night and one sleep to figure out what the other team does. Considering one of these two teams won because a player with 16 free throw attempts all season got 17 in one game and the other merely forced their opponent to post their worst offensive efficiency in 21 years, I feel fine about Tennessee’s odds here. But there’s a preview after this, so, uh, read it?

BELOW THE LINE: I am a soldier; I have seen worse sights than this ($)

Happy Thanksgiving Week! If you’d like to read this post and all Tennessee previews, you can use the below offer to get a subscription for just $15 for a full year. I consider it worthwhile.