Tennessee’s opening round games in the 2019 NCAA Tournament were more about surviving than excelling but in the big dance, all that matters is that you come away with a victory, no matter how ugly it may look at times.

By beating No. 15 seed Colgate and No. 10 seed Iowa over the weekend, the Volunteers punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 and now face No. 3 seed Purdue for the right to advance to the Elite 8. After Tennessee struggled to beat the Hawkeyes on Sunday, despite racing to an early 25-point lead in the game, many are out on the Vols heading into the round of 16.

However, according to the research of ESPN’s Chris Fallica, history suggests Tennessee will be marching on to the Elite 8 on Thursday night.

“Tennessee is the 4th two seed to win each of its first two NCAA Tournament games by single digits. Each of the previous three – 95 Arkansas, 05 Kentucky and 17 Kentucky – all won their Sweet 16 game,” Fallica tweeted out on Tuesday.

In addition to that information, Fallica pointed out Purdue coach Matt Painter is 0-7 against top 3 seeds in his career.

Those stats don’t guarantee the Vols anything when the ball is tipped on Thursday night but for Tennessee fans nervous about the matchup, at least these stats suggest Rick Barnes’ team will be marching on to the Elite 8 by the time the final whistle blows.