Tennessee Basketball moved up one spot in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology rankings for ESPN on Friday. The Vols now come in as the projected 5-seed in the Midwest Region ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game against Vanderbilt in Nashville. Tennessee’s projected first-round opponent is 12-seed Yale, with a potential second-round matchup against either 4-seed Virginia or 13-seed California Baptist. The games are slated to take place in Portland.
Other notable entries in the Vols’ region include 1-seed Michigan, 2-seed Iowa State, 3-seed Texas Tech, 6-seed Kentucky, and 10-seed Georgia. Tennessee does not line up with either of its SEC foes until a potential Elite Eight game, though.
Tennessee’s one-spot rise to the 5-seed comes after a midweek win against Oklahoma last Wednesday night in Knoxville. Despite a run from the Sooners in the second half, Tennessee closed the game on a massive run to win by a score of 89-66.
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Rick Barnes’ squad has been a projected 5-seed for four of Lunardi’s last six updates. Tennessee moved down to a 6-seed following the loss at Kentucky a few games ago, but moved back up to familiar territory after Wednesday’s game against Oklahoma.
The Vols will look to continue building their resume with an in-state SEC rivalry game against Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon in Nashville. The 19th-ranked Commodores host the Volunteers at 2:00 p.m. ET in Memorial Gymnasium.
The Vanderbilt game is one of Tennessee’s final five games of the regular-season slate. The Vols will then close out the season at Missouri, against Alabama, at South Carolina, and against Vanderbilt.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.
