ESPN College GameDay picks two programs most likely to become projected No. 1 seeds

ESPN’s College GameDay is off and running again after a wild week of upsets that saw plenty of ranked teams take losses and shake things up. Enough to shake up the projected No. 1 seeds?

Quite possibly.

The GameDay crew discussed the teams most likely to make a jump into the No. 1 seed line, and Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg were split on the two teams they selected. Bilas chose UCLA, while Greenberg picked Tennessee.

“I think it’s probably Tennessee and UCLA, and I would go with UCLA because Tennessee I think is going to stumble at a couple of times going forward,” Bilas said. “UCLA is really good defensively. They’ve done a really good job guarding the three. Jaime Jaaquez Jr. is one of the toughest matchups in the country. They get him to the middle of the floor, he plays on the floor, pivots, he’ll spin. They get him down in the low post, he’s got a great fadeaway jumper.”

UCLA has now won 14 straight games and it’s only two losses this year came against opponents that were ranked at the time (No. 19 Illinois and No. 5 Baylor).

For multiple reasons, Bilas likes the Bruins to climb to the top seed line.

“I think UCLA has the best chance of that group because of their defense and their analytics and their schedule,” he said.

Should Tennessee be a projected No. 1 seed?

Not to go down without an argument, Greenberg made the case for the Volunteers as a projected No. 1 seed.

“I’m going to be hanging out with Smokey next week, so I’m going with Tennessee,” Greenberg said. “And I’m going with Tennessee because they can play big, they can play small. We know Tennessee’s an elite defensive team, but offensively is where they’ve improved. Santiago Vescovi when healthy is an elite shooter. Obviously you’ve got Josiah-Jordan James, he’s coming off the bench. Zakai Zeigler‘s coming off the bench when this Tennessee team is healthy. They can protect the rim, they can score in the paint, they can shoot the three, they can turn you over, they can rebound the basketball.”

The Volunteers have only three losses this season, to Colorado, then-No. 9 Arizona on the road and Kentucky.

Given the way the rest of the slate looks for the Vols, Greenberg likes their chances of joining the projected No. 1 seeds by season’s end.

“You talk about schedules, look at this, their schedule remaining — at home, they’ve got Alabama. They only play Alabama once this year,” Greenberg said. “They’ve got Texas in obviously the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at home. Arkansas at home. Auburn they go home and away. Their schedule sets up in terms of the home games they play to have a chance, maybe they get one more loss.

“You’re playing in the SEC, as long as it’s the right loss, they could play their way in. But they are more than a worthy No. 1 seed because of their size, their length, their athleticism and their ability to play fast, slow, big and small.”