Expect a lot of bracketology coverage over the next couple of days as teams go through their conference tournaments before Selection Sunday this weekend. The next handful of games will be the final chance for teams to impact their seeding for next week’s dance, with some teams rising to the occasion and others falling short.
Ahead of their SEC Tournament opening game on Thursday, Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers land as the projected 5-seed in the Midwest Region, according to Joe Lunardi’s Tuesday night bracketology report for ESPN. Lunardi has Tennessee as the final 5-seed in the rankings behind Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and St. John’s.
The projection has Tennessee taking on 12-seed Northern Iowa in the first round of competition from Portland, OR. The Vols would then see either 4-seed Texas Tech or 13-seed Utah Valley in the second round of action from the same site. With Tennessee’s projection in the Midwest Region, it would mean that the Vols would hypothetically head to Chicago for their Sweet 16/Elite Eight game(s).
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Other notable entries in Lunardi’s projected Midwest Region include 1-seed Michigan, 2-seed UConn, 3-seed Iowa State, 6-seed Wisconsin, 7-seed Georgia, and 8-seed Ohio State.
The SEC is tied with the Big Ten for the most projected entries in the tournament with 10. The team that will be important to watch for that 11th SEC spot is Auburn, which is the first team out of the 68-team field in Lunardi’s latest projection.
The Auburn Tigers will begin the SEC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon with a matchup against 12-seed Mississippi State. The winner of that game will get 5-seed Tennessee on Thursday afternoon in Nashville. If the Tigers want to make one last statement before Selection Sunday this weekend, the Volunteers could be a big obstacle that is standing in their path.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Basketball coverage at the SEC Tournament in Nashville this weekend.
More to follow: College Basketball Betting Sites
