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Tennessee's game at Texas A&M a 'must win' to stay in hunt for NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 21 hours•

GrantRamey

NCAA Basketball: Tennessee at Texas A&M
(Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports) Feb 21, 2023; College Station, Texas, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) drives to the basket as Texas A&M Aggies forward Andersson Garcia (11) defends during the first half at Reed Arena.

A No. 1 seed is off the table in the NCAA Tournament if No. 6 Tennessee loses at No. 7 Texas A&M Saturday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. 

Lunardi wrote Friday afternoon that the “2-seed Vols must win to say in the hunt for a No. 1 seed” in the NCAA Tournament in his latest ESPN Bracketology update. 

Tennessee (21-5, 8-5 SEC) and Texas A&M (20-6, 9-4) are scheduled for a Noon Eastern Time start Saturday on ESPN at Reed Arena in College Station. 

Lunardi continues to have the Vols as his No. 5 overall seed, slotting them in as the top No. 2 seed.

Joe Lunardi projects Tennessee as No. 2 seed in East Region 

His ESPN Bracketology update Friday had Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the East Region, facing No. 15 Central Connecticut in the first round in Cleveland, opposite of No. 7 Saint Mary’s and No. 10 West Virginia. 

Duke was the No. 1 seed in the East Region. Texas Tech was the No. 3 seed, Purdue was the No. 4, Missouri was the No. 5 and UCLA was the No. 6.

Last Saturday Tennessee was the top No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the No. 5 overall seed according to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, which released its current top-16 seeds in an in-season bracket preview. 

The Vols came in as the No. 5 overall seed and was in the East Region with No. 1-seed Duke. Auburn, Alabama, Duke and Florida, in that order, were the No. 1 seeds, in that order.

Texas A&M is Joe Lunardi’s top No. 3 seed

Lunardi’s current No. 2 seeds behind Tennessee are Houston, Wisconsin and Iowa State. His No. 3 seeds are Texas A&M, Kentucky, Arizona and Texas Tech, with the Aggies as the No. 9 overall seed and the top No. 3 seed. His No. 4s are Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan and St. John’s.

Tennessee, which dropped one spot in the AP Top 25 and two spots in the Coaches Poll on Monday, is No. 1 in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up just 87.3 points per 100 possessions. The Vols are No. 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 118.3 points per 100 possessions.

Tennessee has never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but has been a No. 2 seed three times, including twice under head coach Rick Barnes. 

The Vols went to the Elite Eight as a No. 2 seed last season, for just the second time in program history, before losing to No. 1-seed Purdue. They were a No. 2 seed in 2006 under Bruce Pearl, losing to NO. 7 Wichita State in the second round. 

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