Look: Where Tennessee basketball stands in updated Final Four odds
Tennessee basketball currently has the seventh best odds to reach the Final Four, according to recently updated odds from Circa Sports. The Vols are listed at +360 to make the program’s first Final Four appearance and -460 to not make it.
Ahead of Tennessee is Purdue (+170), UConn (+170), Houston (+225), Auburn (+285), Arizona (+300) and North Carolina (+350). Purdue and UConn are -210 to not make the Final Four while Houston is -280, Auburn is -360, Arizona is -380 and North Carolina is -460.
No. 9 Tennessee (17-6, 7-3 SEC) is back on the road at Arkansas (12-11, 3-7) on Wednesday night (9 Eastern Time, ESPN2) at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, looking to bounce back from the 85-69 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Tennessee basketball program has never been to a Final Four and has been to the Elite Eight just once, losing 70-69 to Michigan State in 2010 in St. Louis. The Vols have been to the Sweet Sixteen nine times, including twice under head coach Rick Barnes, advancing to the second weekend last year and in 2019.
Where the Vols stand in the latest ESPN Bracketology updates
ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi on Wednesday had Tennessee at No. 6 overall on his current projected NCAA Tournament seed list, with the Vols behind Purdue, UConn, Houston and Arizona, the four No. 1 seeds, as well as Marquette, the top No. 2 seed.
Lunardi noted that Tennessee won’t move up or down from its current position in his projections based on Wednesday night’s result at Arkansas.
Lunardi’s projected NCAA Tournament bracket on Tuesday had the Vols as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region (Detroit), playing No. 15-seed Troy in Charlotte, opposite of No. 7-seed Utah State and No. 10 Butler.
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The opposite quad featured No. 6-seed Florida Atlantic against either New Mexico or Ole Miss, two No. 11 seeds currently projected for the First Four, and No. 3-seed Iowa State and No. 14 Eastern Washington.
Purdue, the No. 1 overall seed, was the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. Dayton was the No. 4 seed on the top side of the bracket and San Diego State was the No. 5. Florida was the No. 8 seed.
Tennessee’s remaining schedule: Tough tests in March
After back-to-back road games at Texas A&M and Arkansas, Tennessee will return home for three of its next four games at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols host Vanderbilt on Saturday, go to Missouri on Tuesday and then have home dates with Texas A&M (February 24) and Auburn (February 28).
The tests continue in March with back-to-back road games at Alabama (March 2) and South Carolina (March 6) before closing the regular season at home against Kentucky on Senior Day in Knoxville (March 9).
The SEC Tournament is set for March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday, March 17.
