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Joe Lunardi: Tennessee will lose No. 1 seed in ESPN Bracketology after loss at Kentucky

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 9 hours•

GrantRamey

Kentucky Basketball, Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
(Jordan Prather-Imagn Images) Feb 11, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) dunks the ball during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.

Tennessee Basketball will be losing its No. 1 seed projection in ESPN Bracketology after the 75-64 loss at Kentucky Tuesday night, according to Joe Lunardi. 

Lunardi wrote before the Tennessee-Kentucky game that the loser at Rupp Arena would be dropping off its current NCAA Tournament seed line, with the Vols as a No. 1 seed and Kentucky as a No. 4 seed.

Tennessee (20-5, 7-5 SEC) was Lunardi’s fourth and final No. 1 seed in recent updates while Kentucky (17-6, 6-5) entered Tuesday’s game as Lunardi’s last No. 4 seed, the No. 16 overall seed. 

The Vols have never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They’ve been a No. 2 seed three times, including twice under Rick Barnes, last season and in 2019.

Florida to jump Tennessee for final No. 1 seed

Florida will jump Tennessee to the No. 1-seed line, becoming Lunardi’s new No. 4 overall seed after the Gators won Tuesday night at Mississippi State.

Auburn remains the No. 1 overall seed, ahead of No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Duke. Alabama won at Texas Tuesday night and hosts Auburn Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.

Tennessee entered the Kentucky game ranked No. 4 in the NET. The loss dropped the Vols to 8-5 in Quad 1 games, while they are a combined 12-0 in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games. 

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET

Tennessee returns home to host Vanderbilt (17-7, 5-6) on Saturday (1 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network). Vandy, which lost at home against Auburn Tuesday night, upset the Vols in Nashville, 76-75, on January 18. The Commodores have lost four of six games since beating Tennessee. 

After hosting Vanderbilt, Tennessee goes back on the road for two games, going to Texas A&M on February 22, then to LSU on February 25. The Vols close the regular-season schedule in March with home dates against Alabama (March 1) and South Carolina (March 8), sandwiched around a trip to Ole Miss (March 5). 

There are currently three Quad 1 games remaining on schedule, against Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss. Vanderbilt and LSU are Quad 2 games and South Carolina is a Quad 3 game. 

KenPom.com dropped Tennessee one spot to No. 5 overall in its rankings. The Vols are still rated No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 86.0 points per 100 possessions, and are 39 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 117.2 points per 100 possessions. 

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