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Bracketology: Where Tennessee is seeded in ESPN's first 2026 NCAA Tournament projection

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•04/30/25•

GrantRamey

Felix Okpara, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Felix Okpara, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

The ink isn’t close to dry on Tennessee Basketball’s roster for the 2025-26 season, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Tuesday dropped his first Bracketology update for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Lunardi has the Vols as the No. 3 seed in the West Region, playing the first weekend of the tournament in Greenville, S.C., facing No. 14 McNeese in the first round, opposite of No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 11 VCU. The regional site for the West Region is San Jose.

Sites for the first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament are Greenville, Buffalo, Oklahoma City, Tampa, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Portland and San Diego.

The regional sites are San Jose, Houston (South Regional), Chicago (Midwest Regional) and Washington D.C. (East Regional). The Final Four will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Vols have two open spots left on 2025-26 roster

Tennessee still has two open spots on its 2025-26 roster after adding seven new names to the list. The Vols so far have added three players out of the NCAA Transfer Portal and four prep prospects.

Louisiana Tech guard Amaree Abram committed to Tennessee on Tuesday, joining Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillepsie and Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Carey.

Five-star small forward Nate Ament, the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 class, headlines Tennessee’s 2025 recruiting class, joining four-star guard Amari Evans, four-star center Dewayne Brown and three-star point guard Troy Henderson.

The Vols lost six seniors from last season’s roster: Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier, Jordan Gainey, Jahmai Mashack, Igor Milicic Jr. and Darlinstone Dubar.

Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history under Rick Barnes

Tennessee under Rick Barnes has been a No. 2 seed three times, a No. 3 seed twice, a No. 4 seed and a No. 5. Barnes has led the program to the NCAA Tournament seven straight times. 

The Vols are coming off back-to-back runs to the Elite Eight, losing to No. 1-seed Houston this season and No. 1-seed Purdue in 2024.

Tennessee went through No. 15 Wofford, No. 7 UCLA and No. 3 Kentucky on its return run to the Elite Eight in March.

Last season the Vols went through No. 15 Saint Peter’s, No. 7 Texas and No. 3 Creighton, before falling to No. 1 Purdue in the Midwest Regional final at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Two years ago the Vols went to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed, beating No. 13-seed Louisiana in the first round and No. 5 Duke in the second round. They lost 62-55 to No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the third round. 

Tennessee was a No. 3 in 2022, beating Longwood in the first round before being upset by No. 11-seed Michigan in the second round. The Vols were a No. 3 in 2018, beating Wright State before losing to No. 11-seed Loyola-Chicago.

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