Tennessee State Head Coach Explains Why 'Cinderella' Is A 'No-No' Word

The Tennessee State Tigers are headed to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time in several decades, and the team is one that many would peg as a potential Cinderella.

But, do not use that word around Tigers head coach Nolan Smith.

Smith joined Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow in the studio on Thursday's edition of Hot Mic, and Withrow asked him how past Cinderella squads like Saint Peter's, UMBC, and Florida Gulf Coast lean into their strengths and then some when March Madness rolls around.

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It's a great observation, and surely the Tigers — who punched their ticket to the big dance by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship — will do the same.

But Smith isn't a fan of the "Cinderella" label.

"You just used one of the no words that I told my team we're not going to use, which is ‘Cinderella,’" Smith said. "We're not underdogs, and I told my team that because that has to be the mentality."

Smith said that he was certain those past Cinderellas, er, I mean "teams that overperformed relative to the expectations of them," believed in themselves and knew what they were capable of.

"I said if anybody tells you your friends, your mom, your auntie, your uncles, they say, 'Hey man, you're about to be a Cinderella story.' No, we're about to be us. We're going to attack this tournament as TSU, the OVC champions. We're going to play fast. We're going to press. We're going to continue to turn teams over. And if we do that, when the buzzer sounds, if it's enough, it's enough. And then we get on to the next thing, and we just keep on winning."

So what should we call them?

"Tigers," Smith said. That's it. Tigers."