Bracketology: Updated matchups with Tennessee as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament
Tennessee basketball is seemingly a consensus No. 1 seed in updated NCAA Tournament projections after the Vols won 66-59 Wednesday night at South Carolina, winning the SEC’s regular-season championship and picking up a third straight Quad 1 win.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Wednesday night moved Tennessee to a No. 1 seed and on Thursday updated his seed list, with the Vols landing in the West Region (Los Angeles).
Lunardi’s updated bracket on Friday morning had Tennessee in the West and playing the first weekend in Charlotte, awaiting the No. 16-seed winner between Norfolk State and Central Connecticut State in the First Four.
Opposite of the Vols is No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Nebraska. Other top seeds in the West are No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 San Diego State, No. 6 Utah State and No. 7 Gonzaga.
Tennessee has never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have been a No. 2 seed three times (2006, 2008 and 2019) and a No. 3 seed twice (2018, 2022).
Purdue remains the No. 1 overall in Lunardi’s Midwest Region (Detroit), UConn is the No. 2 overall seed and the No. 1 in the East Region (Boston) and Houston is No. 3 overall and the top seed in the South Region (Houston).
Arizona bumped down to the No. 5 overall seed, joining the Vols as the No. 2 seed in the West.
Arizona ‘very much in the hunt for a No. 1 seed’
Lunardi wrote Thursday that Arizona remained “very much in the hunt for a No. 1 seed” but had to win Thursday night at UCLA “for any realistic shot at regaining a top-line seed.” Arizona beat UCLA 88-65 at Pauley Pavilion to clinch the PAC 12 regular-season championship.
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CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm updated his NCAA Tournament bracket projection Thursday morning, with Tennessee as the No. 1 seed in the West awaiting a No. 16 seed out of the First Four. Palm’s four No. 16 seeds in the First Four in Dayton were Central Connecticut State, Grambling, Norfolk State and Stetson.
The Vols beat Norfolk State 87-50 in Knoxville in December.
The other top seeds in the West in Palm’s bracket were No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 San Diego State and No. 5 BYU.
Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Kentucky, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS
Tennessee moved to 8-5 in Quad 1 games after the win at South Carolina. The Vols have picked up three Quad 1 wins over the last week, beating Auburn at home followed by road wins at Alabama and South Carolina. They’ve won six of seven Quad 1 opportunities dating back to the home win over Florida in January and are a combined 16-1 in Quad 2, 3 and 4, with the one loss being a Quad 2 game at home against South Carolina in January.
Another Quad 1 opportunity awaits on Saturday with No. 15 Kentucky (22-8, 12-5 SEC) coming to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 4 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: CBS) on Senior Day.
Arizona after the win at UCLA is 8-3 in Quad 1, 6-2 in Quad 2, 8-1 in Quad 3 and 2-0 in Quad 4. The Quad 2 losses were at home against Washington State and at Stanford and the Quad 3 loss was at Oregon State. The Quad 1 losses came against Purdue, Florida Atlantic and Washington State.
