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ESPN's NCAA Tournament Bracketology update after No. 4 Tennessee's win at Oklahoma

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•02/09/25•

GrantRamey

Cade Phillips, Tennessee Basketball | (Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)
(Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images) Feb 8, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Cade Phillips (12) gestures after scoring against the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center.

No. 4 Tennessee’s 70-52 win at Oklahoma Saturday afternoon won’t do much to change its NCAA Tournament projections, not after the Vols entered the game already projected as a No. 1 seed. 

The two top-ranked teams in college basketball lost Saturday, with No. 1 Auburn falling at home 90-81 to No. 6 Florida and No. 2 Duke losing 77-71 at Clemson. 

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his Bracketology Saturday night, noting that Auburn “has plenty of cushion, even with its loss, as the No. 1 overall seed” and that Duke would also stay on the No. 1 seed line after a loss at Clemson.

Vols led by as many as 28 points in dominant win at Oklahoma

Tennessee (20-4, 7-4 SEC) started the day as Lunardi’s No. 4 overall seed. Alabama, which could be the new No. 1 team when the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Polls are updated on Monday, won at Arkansas Saturday night and jumped up to Lunardi’s No. 2 overall seed. 

Duke was the No. 3 seed, just ahead of the Vols. The No. 2 seeds were Florida, Purdue, Houston and Duke, in that order, and the No. 3s were Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and Michigan State, respectively. The No. 4s were Wisconsin, Marquette, Kentucky and St. John’s. 

Tennessee goes to Kentucky (16-7, 5-5) on Tuesday (7 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN), two weeks after the Wildcats won 78-73 at Food City Center in Knoxville.

Kentucky beat South Carolina 80-57 at Rupp Arena on Saturday, snapping a skid of four losses over its previous five games. 

Tennessee led by as many as 28 points on Saturday at Oklahoma on the way to the 70-52 win. The Vols remain No. 4 overall in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 1 on defense (85.3) and No. 33 on offense (117.3). 

Vols ranked No. 4 in NET, KenPom ratings

Entering Saturday Tennessee was also ranked No. 4 in the NET. The Vols now have an 8-4 record in Quad 1 games and a combined 12-0 record in Quad 2, 3 and 4. 

Lunardi in his projected tournament bracket on Friday had Tennessee as the No. 1 seed in the West Region (San Francisco), playing the first weekend of the tournament in Raleigh, N.C., facing No. 16 Norfolk State in the first round, opposite of No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 West Virginia.

Texas A&M was the No. 2 seed in the West, moving up from a No. 3 seed in the previous bracket projection. Iowa State was the No. 3, Wisconsin was the No. 4 and St. John’s was the No. 5, bumping Missouri down to the No. 6 seed.

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