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Where Tennessee is projected in ESPN NCAA Tournament Bracketology after the Kentucky loss

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•01/29/25•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
(Randy Sartin-Imagn Images) Dec 31, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; A basketball lies on the floor before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Norfolk State Spartans at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee Basketball’s 78-73 loss to Kentucky Tuesday night at Food City Center didn’t bump the Vols off the No. 2-seed line in Joe Lunardi’s latest ESPN Bracketology update.

Instead, Lunardi bumped Tennessee from the No. 5 overall seed in his 68-team projection to the No. 6 overall seed.

Lunardi’s four No. 1 seeds remain Auburn, Duke, Alabama and Iowa State, in that order, with Florida as the first No. 2 seed, ahead of Tennessee, Marquette and Purdue. 

Lunardi wrote on Tuesday afternoon that Tennessee wouldn’t move from the No. 2-seed line regardless of a win or loss against Kentucky. 

Up Next: No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Florida, Saturday

The Vols (17-4, 4-4 SEC) started the season a perfect 14-0 and were ranked No. 1 for five straight weeks while also being projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they have dropped four of their last eight after starting SEC play. 

Up next is Florida (18-2, 5-2) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ESPN) before Missouri comes to Knoxville on Wednesday. 

After that, Tennessee goes on the road for four of the next five: at Oklahoma (February 8), at Kentucky (February 11), Vanderbilt (February 15), at Texas A&M (February 22) and at LSU (February 25). 

Lunardi has Kentucky as a No. 3 seed and the No. 11 overall seed in the field. He has Texas A&M as a No. 4 seed (No. 13 overall) and Mississippi State a No. 5 seed. Georgia and Oklahoma are in Lunardi’s ‘Last Four Byes’ category and Texas in the ‘Last Four In’ category, with 13 SEC teams currently projected to be in the field in total.

Lunardi’s NCAA Tournament bracket projection on Tuesday morning had Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, facing No. 15 Bryant in the first round in Cleveland and playing opposite of No. 7 Maryland and No. 10 San Diego State. 

Iowa State was the No. 1 seed in the West Region, Kentucky was the No. 3 seed, Oregon was the No. 4 and Arizona was the No. 5. Vanderbilt was the No. 9 seed.

Tennessee ranked No. 4 in NET, No. 6 in KenPom

Tennessee stayed at No. 4 in the NET rankings after the loss to Kentucky. The Vols are now 5-4 in Quad 1 games and a combined 12-0 in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games.

The four losses for Tennessee have come against the No. 1 team in the NET, Auburn, as well as No. 5 Florida, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 38 Vanderbilt. 

The Vols also stayed at No. 6 overall in the KenPom.com ratings.

They’re No. 2 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency — dropping from No. 1 after the loss to Kentucky — while giving up 87.4 points per 100 possessions. They’re No. 36 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions. 

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