ESPN Bracketology changes Tennessee's location for first weekend of NCAA Tournament
NASHVILLE — ESPN’s Joe Lunardi moved Tennessee to Midwest Region Saturday night and had the Vols playing the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in Lexington. But after the loss to Florida Sunday in the SEC Tournament title game, Lunardi moved Tennessee back to the East Region and again changed the location.
The ESPN Bracketology update Sunday afternoon has Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the East and playing in Cleveland in the first round on Friday.
Lunardi has Tennessee paired with No. 15-seed Robert Morris, across from No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 10 VCU. Duke is projected to be the No. 1 seed in the East, while Iowa State is the No. 3 seed and Maryland is the No. 4. BYU is the No. 5 seed and Ole Miss is the No. 6.
The NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS.
The change from Lexington to Cleveland could help avoid what Rick Barnes said on Monday is “the worst-case scenario” — going from playing for a conference tournament championship on Sunday to playing in the first round on Thursday.
Lexington is a Thursday-Saturday location for the first weekend while Cleveland is a Friday-Sunday site.
“What you don’t want to happen,” Barnes said Monday night during his weekly appearance on Vol Calls, “is to win a conference championship and play early on Thursday. That’s the worst case scenario. It really is. That’s where I wish the committee was sensitive to that.
“… That’s a tough turnaround. I think that’s what happened to Auburn last year.”
Last year Auburn beat Florida for the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday, then got sent to Spokane, a Friday-Sunday site, where the Tigers were upset by No. 13-seed Yale.
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“That’s the hard part because you don’t get home until late Sunday night,” Barnes said, “and you are back on the road Tuesday because you are playing on Thursday. You got to get there two days early. That’s the toughest scenario of the whole deal.”
Tennessee beat Texas on Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday and beat No. 3 Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday, before the 86-77 loss to Florida Sunday afternoon.
The Thursday-Saturday sites for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament are Lexington, Providence, Wichita and Denver. The Friday-Sunday locations are Cleveland, Milwaukee, Raleigh and Seattle.
Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022, then lost in the second round as a No. 3 seed to No. 11 Michigan. The Vols went to the Elite Eight last season, after being eliminated on Friday in the SEC Tournament. They went to the Sweet 16 in 2023 after a Friday loss in the conference tournament.
