University of Tennessee Athletics
HOOPS CENTRAL: Vol Managers at Final Four
March 31, 2016 | Men's Basketball
NASHVILLE -- The Tennessee basketball manager team departed Thursday for Houston, where it joins teams from Iowa State, Kansas and Michigan State in the Final Four of the Manager Games at Buick Arena.
MORE INFO
Gameday
- Opponent: Michigan State Spartans
- Date: Friday, April 1
- Tipoff: 7:45 p.m. ET
- Venue: Buick Arena (Houston)
Related Links
GAMEDAY INFO Follow @Vol_Hoops #ManagerGames KPI Sports Manager Rankings
Tennessee (6-1)
Hoops Managers Staging Final Four
For several years, student managers took a break from their grueling schedules to stage pickup games against one another. The student managers' version of the Final Four may be the biggest March Madness Cinderella story of them all. ...Read more
After a strong 6-1 regular season record propelled them into the national rankings, the Tennessee managers won the Twitter battle that solidified their spot at the Final Four. ...Read more
Vol Managers Headed to Final Four MSU Managers In Inaugural Final Four Manager's Games Take On New Importance
Tennessee is set to face Michigan State in the second national semifinal game Friday at 7:45 p.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. CT. If the Vols win, they will immediately play in the national championship game against either Kansas or Iowa State, who will have squared off in the first semifinal contest earlier Friday.
This is the inaugural Manager Games in conjunction with the Final Four, and the NCAA has assisted with logistics and support. Arrangements have been made for the games to take place at Buick Arena, which is built inside NCAA Fan Fest. The games will feature actual NCAA officials, a PA announcer, activated scoreboards and national media coverage is expected.
Fans are encouraged to follow @KPIsports on Twitter for live, in-game updates Friday.
ABOUT TENNESSEE
- Tennessee owns a 6-1 record this season.
- Tennessee's projected starters Friday are Garrett Carter, Parker Eidson, I.J. Poole, Parker Ratcliff and Dra?en Zlovarić.
- The Vols opened the year with six consecutive victories, including triumphs over Auburn, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri.
- In their most recent outing, Tennessee lost its rematch with Vanderbilt by a score of 77-75 in overtime.
- The Vols are 4-1 on the road and 2-0 at home. They are 2-1 in overtime games, and four of their seven games this season were decided by two points.
- They boast wins over a pair of ranked opponents, as South Carolina was ranked No. 2 nationally when the team met Jan. 22 in Knoxville. Tennessee also defeated No. 3-ranked Arkansas on the road Feb. 6.
- Tennessee is ranked 13th nationally in the most recent KPI rankings (KPIsports.net), third-highest among SEC teams.
- The Vols average 71.6 points per game while surrendering 65.3 points per game, giving them a scoring margin of +6.3.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
- Representing the Big 10 Conference, Michigan State owns a 6-2 record this season and occupies the No. 38 spot in the KPI national rankings.
- The Spartans are 3-1 at home in East Lansing, Michigan, and 3-1 on the road. They split their two overtime games this season.
- MSU's victories this season have come against Illinois, Iowa (twice), Minnesota, Ohio State and Rutgers.
- The Spartans' two losses came at home against Maryland and on the road at rival Michigan.
- Michigan State is the third-highest ranked team in the Big Ten Conference.
- Last season, MSU managers Andrew Novak and Ian May started a Twitter account, @B1GManagerHoops, to track scores from around the Big Ten and compile standings. When interest grew, they started collecting scores from around the country at the beginning of this season.
ABOUT THE KPI MANAGER RANKINGS
- The KPI is the brainchild of Michigan State Assistant AD for Administration (and former MSU basketball manager) Kevin Pauga.
- KPI ranks team resumes by assigning a value to each game played. The best win possible is worth about +1.0, the worst loss about -1.0, and a virtual tie at 0.0.
- Adjustments are made to each game's value based on location of the game, opponent quality, and percentage of total points scored.
- Game values are added together and divided by games played for a team's KPI ranking.
- In January the first-ever manager team rankings, involving 137 manager groups from across the country, were published on KPIsports.net
- National semifinalist Kansas (4-0) is the top-ranked team in the current KPI. Their semifinal opponent, Iowa State (6-3), is ranked No. 50.
