and they were favored in a large number of them

ones that hurt my soul to this day:

2019 L vs. Purdue -- the last year of Grant and Admiral; Vols are up two and Lamonte Turner fouls Carsen Edwards on a three with one second left. Virginia would have knocked them out the next round but it's crazy those Grant and Admiral teams only played in one Sweet 16...of course that same year Bruce Pearl takes fucking Auburn to the Final Four

2018 L vs. Loyola-Chicago -- Loyola-Chicago hits a floater that bounces off the rim, backboard, rim again, then falls through with three seconds left...Vols would only have had to beat (7) Nevada and (9) Kansas State to make the Final Four if they had won that

2008 L vs. Ohio State (Elite Eight) -- Chris Lofton hits 6 threes and Vols blow a 17-point lead at half-time to the Mike Conley Jr. and Greg Oden combo...Ohio State goes all the way to the championship game after that.

2000 L vs. UNC -- Vols were up 9 points with seven minutes to go and blow it. Carolina sucked that regular season (8 seed) and went on to the Final Four. one of the early Tennessee basketball teams I loved -- Jerry Green was an average coach but that man could recruit. freaking Julius Peppers came off the bench that game and just started blocking shots and eating glass out of nowhere.