The calendar has officially turned to March and the conference and national tournaments are right around the corner in the college basketball landscape. But first? There’s still one week left of the regular-season to be played.
After going on a tear throughout the month of February that saw them win eight of nine games, Tennessee has now dropped two straight heading into the final week of the season. The Vols are 20-9 overall and 10-6 in SEC play, but have a last-place South Carolina team on deck for Tuesday night and a matchup against in-state rival Vanderbilt to cap things off this Saturday afternoon. Tennessee can re-cover some ground that it lost by sweeping the week to end the regular season.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Tennessee as the second-highest 5-seed in his latest tournament projections, coming in one spot behind Arkansas and one spot above Vanderbilt. Lunardi’s projection has Tennessee in the East Region with a first-round matchup against 12-seed Yale and a potential second-round game against either 4-seed Gonzaga or 13-seed UNC Wilmington. Both games are projected to take place in Portland, OR.
Other notable entries in Tennessee’s projected East Region include 1-seed Duke, 2-seed Michigan State, 3-seed Iowa State, 6-seed Louisville, and 7-seed Villanova. The Vols are the only SEC team in their projected quadrant of the bracket.
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Star Nate Ament Out For Matchup At South Carolina
Speaking of the SEC, the conference ties with the Big 10 for most projected entries (10): 2-seed Florida, 4-seed Alabama, 5-seed Arkansas, 5-seed Tennessee, 5-seed Vanderbilt, 6-seed Kentucky, 9-seed Missouri, 9-seed Georgia, 10-seed Texas, 11-seed Texas A&M. The Auburn Tigers, who have dropped seven of its last eight games, have moved to Lunardi’s First Four Out section.
Tennessee has a great chance to get back in the win column on Tuesday night against the Gamecocks in Columbia, but they’ll have to do so without star wing Nate Ament. The freshman suffered an injury in last weekend’s loss to Alabama and has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game with no timetable for a return. We’ll see if Tennessee brings him back for the finale against Vanderbilt or if the Vols keep him out until the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville.
South Carolina hosts No. 23 Tennessee on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. ET in Columbia. The Vols will then host No. 24 Vanderbilt to cap off the regular season at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for all the latest Tennessee Basketball news throughout the final week of the regular season.
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