Bruce Pearl and the sixth-seeded Vols were on upset alert Thursday against San Diego State, and find themselves in a similar position as they face 14th-seeded Ohio Saturday.

Tennessee (26-8) earned a spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 62-59 win over the Aztecs, spoiling what was a popular upset pick after CBS Sports' Seth Davis pounced on SDSU to defeat the Vols soon after the match-up was announced Sunday.

In the earlier game of the night in Providence, R.I., Ohio (22-14) led by as many as 19 points before knocking off third-seeded Georgetown, who made it to the Big East Tournament final, 97-83 in the first round Thursday.

The Bobcats could already be the truest Cinderella story of this year's tournament, as they had to overcome adversity just to reach the Big Dance. The Bobcats won the Mid American Conference Tournament in overtime against Akron 81-75, after finishing the regular season as the 7-9 in conference play. Ohio entered the conference tournament as the nine-seed.

NCAA Tournament experience favors the Vols, though, as Tennessee is looking to make it to its third Sweet 16 in four years, and have made the field of 65 five years in a row. This is Ohio's first tournament appearance since 2005, and their first under second-year head coach John Groce.

The Vols once again leaned on defense against San Diego State, holding the Aztecs to less than 39 percent, including just 17 percent from 3-point range. Thursday was the 20th time this season Tennessee has held an opponent to under 40 percent shooting, and the Vols are undefeated in those games.

In stark contrast, Ohio shot 58 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point range against Georgetown.

Junior guard Armon Bassett has stepped up his play this postseason to lead the Bobcats. Bassett led Ohio with 17.4 points per game during the regular season, the Indiana-transfer but has scored at least 25 points in each of his team's five postseason games.

Bassett scored 32 points in the win against the Hoyas, while fellow guard D.J. Cooper added 23. Both players connected on five 3-pointers in the game.

Tennessee's Wayne Chism, who is playing his school record tying ninth NCAA Tournament game Sunday, will matchup against Ohio's 6-10 center Kenneth van Kempen. Chism leads the Vols with 12.4 points and seven rebounds a game, while the 250-pound Kempen averages 6.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this season

Another factor could be the Vols' advantage off the bench, as they average 23.4 points per game this season. The Vols got only 15 points from the reserves in Thursday's win, and all of those came from Melvin Goins as he set a season-high in points.

Ohio's bench combined for 10 points in their first-round game, and the players who came off the bench against Georgetown combine to average just 11.7 points per game.

Tip-off is set for 3:35 p.m., at Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, with television coverage on CBS. You can also watch the game, as well as all other NCAA Tournament games, live online at mmod.ncaa.com