Tennessee Basketball is 3-0 on the season after a win over North Florida on Wednesday night in Knoxville. The Vols ended the preseason with a close exhibition loss to Duke, but have rattled off three wins over Mercer, Northern Kentucky, and North Florida to begin the regular season.
But while Tennessee is off to an undefeated start, the Vols don’t necessarily have the same quality wins/opponents as some other teams around the country quite yet. Tennessee will get there soon enough with a stretch of high-level teams later this month, but hasn’t quite gotten to that point just yet. That’s why Tennessee is getting jumped in various polls and projections early in the season.
Joe Lunardi, for instance, has Tennessee dropping in his latest Bracketology report for ESPN. Lunardi moved Tennessee down from a three-seed to a four-seed in his latest projection, landing in the Midwest (Chicago) Region.
The projection has four-seed Tennessee taking on 13-seed Northern Iowa in the first round, with a possible matchup against either 5-seed Texas Tech or 12-seed Yale in the second round from Oklahoma City.
Other notable teams in Tennessee’s projected region include 1-seed Purdue, 2-seed Arizona with former Vol Tobe Awaka, 3-seed Louisville, 6-seed Arkansas, 7-seed Vanderbilt, and 9-seed Ole Miss.
Tennessee will see all of those teams, minus Purdue and Arizona, at some point in the regular season. The Vols will host Louisville on Dec. 16, will play at Arkansas on Jan. 3 in the conference opener, will host Ole Miss on Feb. 3, and will take on Vanderbilt twice, once in Nashville on Feb. 21 and once in Knoxville in the regular-season finale on Mar. 7.
Here’s a look at where Tennessee has landed in preseason and regular season Bracketology reports from Lunardi:
- November 11 (Week 1): 4-seed, Midwest Region
- *October: 3-seed, South Region
- *September: 3-seed, Midwest Region
- *August: 3-seed, Midwest Region
- *July: 3-seed, Midwest Region
- *June: 2-seed, West Region
* Indicates Offseason/Preseason
More From RTI: Three Quick Takeaways – JP Estrella Records Double-Double As Tennessee Beats North Florida
Tennessee moved to 3-0 on Wednesday night with a 99-66 win over North Florida in Knoxville. The Vols’ big three of Nate Ament, JP Estrella, and Ja’Kobi Gillespie combined for 63 points in the game, with Estrella recording a double-double at 23 points and 10 rebounds. It’s clear that his return from injury will be a massive positive for the Volunteers moving forward.
Tennessee has two more low-level games before things really get interesting in the non-conference slate. The Vols will host Rice on Nov. 17 and Tennessee State on Nov. 20, and will then head to Las Vegas on the week of Thanksgiving to compete in the Players Era Men’s Tournament. Tennessee will take on Rutgers in Game 1, Houston in Game 2, and a potential Power 5 team in Game 3.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee basketball news and coverage.
