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ESPN's Joe Lunardi drops Tennessee from a No. 1 seed in latest Bracketology update

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 17 hours•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
(Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images) Jan 7, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Bishop Boswell (3), Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) and Tennessee Volunteers forward Igor Milicic Jr. (7) talk during a timeout against the Florida Gators during the second half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Tennessee Basketball dropped from the No. 1 spot in the rankings on Monday. On Tuesday, the Vols fell off the projected NCAA Tournament No. 1-seed line in the latest Bracketology update from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi dropped Tennessee from a No. 1 seed and the No. 3 overall seed last week to a No. 2 seed and the No. 5 overall seed this week. 

Alabama jumped the Vols on the No. 1-seed line, joining Auburn, Duke and Iowa State. The other No. 2 seeds were Florida, Marquette and Kansas. 

Lunardi currently projects 11 SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament, down from 13 last week. 

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 23 Georgia, Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET

Auburn is his No. 1 overall seed and Alabama is the No. 3 overall seed. Behind Tennessee at No. 5 overall is No. 6 Florida. Kentucky and Texas A&M are currently on the No. 3-seed line and Mississippi State is a No. 4 seed. 

Ole Miss is a No. 6 seed, ahead of No. 7-seed Georgia, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Missouri. Lunardi moved Arkansas and Vanderbilt into the ‘First Four Out’ category as the No. 69 and No. 72 overall seeds, respectively. Texas is in the ‘Next Four Out’ category as the No. 73 overall seed and LSU is the No. 90 overall seed. 

Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC), which dropped to No. 6 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll on Monday, hosts No. 23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1). The Bulldogs entered the rankings this week after a two home over ranked teams last week, against Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Lunardi’s bracket projection on Tuesday had Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the East Region, playing the tournament’s first weekend in Raleigh, N.C., against No. 15 Cleveland State. No. 7 Georgia and No. 10 North Carolina were opposite of the Vols in the bracket and Duke was the No. 1 seed.

The Vols have been a No. 5 seed or higher in all six NCAA Tournaments under Rick Barnes

Tennessee is currently ranked No. 4 in the NET, behind No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Houston. The Vols have a 4-1 Quad 1 record and are 1-0 in Quad 2, 3-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4.

KenPom ratings has Tennessee at No. 6 overall. The Vols are ranked No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 88.2 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 25 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 117.5 points per 100 possessions.

Last season Tennessee was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, making a run to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history, going through No. 15 Saint Peter’s, No. 7 Texas and No. 3 Creighton before losing to No. 1 Purdue in the Midwest Regional Final.  

The Vols have been a No. 5 seed or higher in the six trips to the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes. They were a No. 4 in 2023, a No. 3 in 2022, a No. 5 in 2021, a No. 2 in 2019 and a No. 3 in 2018. 

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