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No change in No. 6 Tennessee's NCAA Tournament projections after win at No. 7 Texas A&M

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 11 hours•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
(Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images) Feb 22, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Chaz Lanier (2), guard Jordan Gainey (11) and forward Felix Okpara (34) stand on the court during a time-out in the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena.

There was no change in No. 6 Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament projection after the 77-69 win at No. 7 Texas A&M Saturday afternoon. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has the Vols as his top No. 2 seed and No. 5 overall seed in his updated Bracketology. 

There was no room for Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 SEC) to move after Auburn, Alabama, Duke and Florida, Lunardi’s four No. 1 seeds, all won on Saturday.  Auburn beat Georgia at home and Alabama beat Kentucky in Tuscaloosa. Duke beat Illinois at Madison Square Garden and Florida won at LSU. 

Lunardi wrote Friday afternoon that the Vols had to win at Texas A&M to stay alive in the race for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee won after getting 30 points from Chaz Lanier on a career-high 8-for-13 shooting from the 3-point line. Zakai Zeigler scored 16 points and had seven assists and Jordan Gainey scored 14 points off the bench. 

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at LSU, Tuesday

The Vols now go to LSU (14-13, 3-11) on Tuesday (9 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network), then closes the regular-season schedule at home against No. 4 Alabama on March 1, at No. 24 Ole Miss on March 5 and at home against South Carolina on March 8.

Tennessee moved into fourth in the SEC standings Saturday night, with Missouri’s loss at Arkansas. Auburn leads the league at 13-1, ahead of Florida at 11-3 and Alabama at 10-3. Missouri and Texas A&M also have 9-5 records to match the Vols. 

Entering Saturday, Tennessee was No. 5 in the NET — behind Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida — and with the win at Texas A&M improved to 9-5 in Quad 1 games. The Vols are 13-0 in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games. 

Tennessee is also No. 5 in the KenPom.com standings, staying at No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency (87.4 points allowed per 100 possessions) and No. 27 in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.0). 

Joe Lunardi has 12 SEC teams in NCAA Tournament field

Lunardi’s other No. 2 seeds behind Tennessee were Houston, Iowa State and Wisconsin. Houston beat Iowa State Saturday afternoon in Houston and Wisconsin lost at home to Oregon in overtime, after blowing a 16-point lead with 12 minutes left. 

Lunardi’s No. 3 seeds were Michigan State, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech, in that order. The No .4 seeds were Arizona, Purdue, Michigan and St. John’s.

Lunardi has 12 SEC teams in his projected field of 68 in the NCAA Tournament, including two teams on the bubble. Missouri and Mississippi State are both No. 5 seeds and Ole Miss is a No. 6. Texas is a No. 10 seed and Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Oklahoma are all in the ‘Last Four In’ category. Georgia is in the ‘Next Four Out’ category.

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