Tennessee facing coaching staff uncertainty right before taking on Michigan

There have been a ton of rumors about Dusty May and interest from North Carolina, but the Wolverines aren't the only team that's dealing with teams trying to pull away their coaches. Tennessee is also battling against the distractions.

Michigan will play the Volunteers for the right to represent the Midwest Region in next week's Final Four. But before that happens, it appears that N.C. State will have conversations with one of Rick Barnes' top assistants with regard to the vacancy at the ACC school.

It would be nice for these interviews to be put on the shelf until the tournament is over for the teams still participating, but it also goes to show that the calendar in college athletics moves quickly and athletic directors need to act fast. 

There is nearly no downside to having a great athletics program, but you have to expect that other schools will come after coaches, especially the top assistants. That's what Rick Barnes is going through at Tennessee right now, and it's something that May will surely have to deal with at some point soon.

Michigan may benefit from potential distraction among Tennessee staff

The good news is that the chatter about May potentially going to the Tar Heels has quieted over the last few days, and it appears that the administration will make sure that May has no reason to leave. 

How this affects Sunday's game is something to watch, but both teams appear pretty locked in and there's no reason to expect that the players on the floor will be thinking about anything other than doing whatever it takes to advance to the national semifinals next week in Indianapolis. 

The Wolverines are a 7.5-point favorite over the Volunteers, but that doesn't mean anything this time of year. Tennessee has been the underdog in its past two games and managed to pick up wins. It's going to be a battle featuring a great matchup between All-American Yaxel Lendeborg and their Volunteers hotshot freshman Nate Ament.