Why Tennessee's win over Alabama catapulted them to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, ahead of Arizona

Tennessee captured an impressive win over Alabama on Saturday, and On3’s Bracketologist James Fletcher III believes it had major NCAA Tournament implications.

Joining Andy Staples On3 on Monday, Fletcher III stated his belief to the namesake that the Volunteers have catapulted ahead of the Arizona Wildcats as it pertains to the final No. 1 seed for March Madness, following their win over the Crimson Tide.

“I think Tennessee has now surpassed Arizona on that final spot on the No. 1 line, behind of course as we know Purdue, UConn and Houston. Those three aren’t leaving. But that last spot was up for grabs,” Fletcher III explained. “Arizona was just holding onto it, trying to get to the finish line, but Tennessee beating Auburn and Alabama in consecutive weeks, a pair of teams that are in the Top 4 seed conversations themselves. You look at it, and the overall resumes are really similar, but I gave Tennessee that nod, just for being in that stronger conference, and then a couple of the little data points here and there that you look at. It’s really close though.

“I think that if Tennessee of course, if they slip up the rest of the way, they open themselves up to letting Arizona pass them back by and get that No. 1 spot, but if they win out, I think they’re for sure going to get that fourth No. 1 seed spot now.”

With dreams of winning a national title, a No. 1 seed would go a long way towards helping the Volunteers capture their ultimate goal. We’ll see if Tennessee is able to hang on to their standing, but it’s easy to see why Fletcher III and many others have the Volunteers as one of the top teams in the nation at the moment.

Rick Barnes praises Vols after gritty win at Alabama on quiet night for Dalton Knecht

Moreover, No. 4 Tennessee held on to defeat No. 14 Alabama 81-74 on the road in front of a hostile crowd in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. And the Vols did so without a heroic performance from the SEC’s leading scorer, Dalton Knecht.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes’ squad held the nation’s highest-scoring team over 15 points below their season average (90.9) while at least seven of his players scored at least eight points or more during the matchup. Barnes’ praised his team’s depth and experience as a main reason Tennessee was able to steal a big win on the road. 

“We’ve got a lot of these guys that have been with us for a long time and they’ve been in games like this,” Barnes said postgame. “And obviously, we’ve got the utmost respect for Nate (Oats) and his staff and what he’s done in his program in his time here. It was going to be a difficult game if we could stay in it for as long as we could, knowing how explosive they can be. 

“But Jahmai Mashack, Santi (Vescovi), Josiah-(Jordan) James, guys that have been around for a long time, they made a lot of plays, especially Josiah getting on the glass. ‘Z’ (Zakai Zeigler) what he does.”

While Knecht contributed 13 points, he struggled to hit the mark from deep and instead, saw Zeigler score 18 points during the contest. He’s now averaging 17.5 points over his last two games. James finished with an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double while Jonas Aidoo finished the list of scorers in double figures with a 12-point performance on the night.

In the end, the win keeps Tennessee in sole possession of first place in the SEC standings. With less than a week left in the regular season, the Vols will have their work cut out for them. They take on No. 18 South Carolina on the road on Wednesday before finishing things up with senior day this Saturday against No. 16 Kentucky. 

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.