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The Big 12 and SEC will go head-to-head with a good old-fashioned challenge in the 2013-14 college basketball season. However, since the SEC has more teams, there will be four teams left out, with the Tennessee Volunteers being one of them.
The Volunteers definitely deserve to be in this challenge, since they will have plenty of talent returning, which includes Jordan McRae. McRae averaged 15.7 points per game this past season and will enter the 2013-14 college basketball season as one of the best players in the conference.
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Tennessee will likely enter the year trailing Kentucky and Florida as favorites to win the conference, but that does not mean that it will not challenge for a conference title.
This team could have helped the SEC out a lot in this challenge, but instead, teams like Auburn and Mississippi State will get to partake in it. No offense to either team, but they finished last and second to last in the conference standings this past season.
Tennessee, on the other hand, finished fifth in the conference and just barely missed out on the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
LSU, Georgia and Arkansas are the other three teams that will not compete in this challenge. Who knows how the conference will shape up in the upcoming season, but LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas definitely should be in this challenge, but it is what it is.
Still, the Volunteers will be one of the best teams in the SEC next season, they will have a great shot to dance and they should challenge Kentucky and Florida for a conference title.
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