NCAA Tournament Dark Horses - Part 2

In the NCAA tournament sometimes teams come out of nowhere and surprise people. I am counting teams as “Dark Horse's” that could make a run to the elite 8 that are below a 4 seed. I will be picking a team from 2 regions. Below is a link for 2 teams that I think could make a run.

Part 1: https://www.latonique.news/articles/ncaa-tournament-dark-horses-part-1

Texas Tech

Justin Rex/Associated Press

The Texas Tech Red Raiders made it to the National Championship game in 2019 against Virginia. The play of Jarrett Culver and Matt Mooney took control of the offense but Texas Tech made their run based on their defense which was ranked number 1 in the country, according to Kenpom. For this year, the Red Raiders team the biggest reason for the drop off from the team that earned a 3 seed is the defense. Texas Tech ranks 24th defensively this season. The biggest drop-off from this year's team to the 2019 team defensively is the three-point shooting defense. The 2019 team ranked 13th in the country in three-point defense where the 2021 team ranks 238th. But a thing that the 2021 team does better is forcing turnovers where they ranked 8th in the country compared to 14th. This current Texas Tech team will face Utah State as the 6 seed in a 6-11 matchup. Mac McClung (G) is their leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, the transfer from Georgetown is an impressive shot-maker. Terrance Shannon is also a good player, the big guard contributes 12.7 points per game. Kevin McCullar (G) adds 10.1 points per game and just under 2 steals. Kyler Edwards (G) scores 10.0 points per game and is an awesome shooter at 41.5 percent from three. Even though this team is less talented than the 2019 team. Chris Beard is a great coach that will make them a tough out.

Tennessee

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports

The Tennesse Volunteers are in a 5-12 matchup against the red hot Oregon State Beavers. Tennessee has been an interesting team this year. They have been unranked in the AP poll the last two weeks but have ranked as high as the 6th of the 1/18 poll. Tennessee is an excellent defensive team ranking 4th in the country in Kenpom’s adjusted defense. The Volunteers rank in the top 25 in the country in effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, defensive two-point percentage and block rate. For how great Tennessee has been on defense they have struggled at times on offense rankings 71st in the country. In SEC play Tennessee was 9th in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage and 11th in three-point percentage. This Volunteers team is very athletic with Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer they have two freshmen that are projected lottery picks. Springer scores 12.5 points per game and on limited attempts is shooting 44.4 percent from three. Johnson contributes 12.1 points per game. John Fulkerson scores 9.5 points a game as a 5th year senior and he provides a nice veteran presence. Yves Ponds the 6’6 senior forward is an absolute monster athlete that blocks 1.9 shots a game. Tennessee is a tough, athletic good defensive team that could make a run. They will need to shoot the ball better but could potentially make a run.