ESPN Bracketology drops Tennessee, but Vols still alive for a No. 1 seed
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped Tennessee to the No. 6 overall seed in his latest Bracketology update, with Alabama moving past the Vols for the No. 5 overall seed after its overtime win at Auburn on Saturday.
Lunardi’s latest bracket projection has Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the East Region, playing the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland. The No. 1 seed in the East is Duke, the No. 3 is Iowa State and the No. 4 is Maryland.
Lunardi’s No. 1 seeds are Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida, in that order. But the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is still up for grabs in the SEC Tournament, according to Lunardi.
“Florida, Alabama and Tennessee battling in Nashville for the final No. 1 seed,” Lunardi wrote on Tuesday.
Up Next: Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Tennessee (25-6, 11-6 SEC) finished fourth in the SEC standings and has a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. The Vols will play in the quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon, at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, against either No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 12 Vanderbilt or No. 13 Texas.
Auburn is the No. 1 seed and would be the opponent on Saturday in the semifinal round, should both the Vols and Tigers advance on Friday. Florida is the No. 2 seed and could face No. 3 Alabama on Saturday.
The Gators won at Alabama last week and beat Ole Miss at home on Saturday. Alabama rebounded from the home loss against Florida with the road win at Auburn.
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Tennessee split games last week, losing 78-76 at Ole Miss and beating South Carolina 75-65 at Food City Center on Saturday.
Vols ranked No. 5 in NET, KenPom
Tennessee’s first-round opponent on Tuesday morning was No. 15-seed Robert Morris. The Vols were opposite of No. 7 Marquette and No. 10 San Diego State.
The other teams in the East on Tennessee’s half of the bracket were No. 6 Michigan against No. 11 Arkansas and No. 3 Iowa State against No. 14 Northern Colorado. On Duke’s side of the bracket was No. 8 UConn and No. 9 Georgia, No. 5 BYU and No. 12 Liberty and No. 4 Maryland against No. 13 High Point.
The Vosl are ranked No. 5 in the NET. The Vols are 9-6 in Quad 1 games, 5-0 in Quad 2, 5-0 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. They’re also No. 5 in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 88.5 points per 100 possessions, and No. 22 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 119.3 points per 100 possessions.
