Tennessee upsets Iowa State for third straight Elite Eight trip - ESPN

CHICAGO — The Tennessee teams that reached the Elite Eight in 2024 and 2025 featured mainstays such as Zakai Zeigler. The current squad is made up of 11 newcomers, a new team with familiar goals.

Coach Rick Barnes thought if all the new pieces fit, the Vols could accomplish great things.

«I remember the first day, in our meeting with Coach Barnes, he said we could win the national championship,» said forward Jaylen Carey, a transfer from Vanderbilt. «We have the team to do it.»

Tennessee now has the chance after thumping Iowa State 76-62 at the United Center to reach its third consecutive Elite Eight under Barnes. The sixth-seeded Vols will face No. 1 seed Michigan on Sunday with a chance to claim the Midwest region and reach the program's first Final Four.

«We have some unfinished business,» said forward Felix Okpara, one of few Tennessee holdovers from the 2024-25 team.

Okpara, Carey and the Vols' front line flexed against the Cyclones during a dominant second half, both literally and figuratively, as the 267-pound Carey gestured toward the crowd after Iowa State was forced to call timeout with 12:57 left. Tennessee held massive edges in total rebounds (43-22), offensive rebounds (16-8) and points in the paint (42-30).

Carey and Okpara both recorded double-doubles, and four other Vols had four rebounds.

«Last year, we had no post presence at all,» Barnes said. «We knew at some point in time that we're going to have to get it again. I can't say enough about Felix's improvement, his development.»

Just how dominant was Tennessee on the glass?

«We were just fighting for every rebound and we were kind of just exhaling when we got it,» Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic lamented.

Tennessee's inside struggles were exposed in