Tennessee had a chance to potentially contend for the final 4-seed in the March Madness bracket during the SEC Tournament, but the Vols’ run in Nashville came to a close in the quarterfinal round with a 72-65 loss to Vanderbilt on Friday. The Vols entered the conference tournament on the 5-seed line, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Heading into Friday’s slate of games, Lunardi wrote that the final 4-seed was up for grabs for the teams on the 5-seed line, including Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and St. John’s. All of those teams except for Tennessee won on Friday, pushing the Vols out of contention for that spot.
After placing the Vols both on the 5-seed (Portland, OR) and 6-seed lines in two different bracketology reports on Friday night, Lunardi released a new update to his projections on Saturday afternoon. He’s sticking with the 6-seed projection this time around.
Lunardi has 6-seed Tennessee projected to take on 11-seed VCU in the first round of the South Region. He’s then got the Vols on track to take on either 3-seed Purdue or 14-seed Troy in the second round from Greenville, SC.
Other notable teams in Lunardi’s South Region projection include 1-seed Florida, 2-seed Houston, 4-seed Virginia, 5-seed Texas Tech, 7-seed UCLA, and 10-seed Texas A&M. When considering chalk projections, Tennessee’s path to the Final Four would see games against VCU, Purdue, Houston, and Florida. The Vols have already beaten Houston and lost to Florida in regular-season games this season.
Tennessee is entering the NCAA Tournament with a 22-11 overall record after going 11-7 in SEC play this year. The Vols spent most of the SEC slate as the 5-seed in Lunardi’s projections, including the last 11 bracketology updates. Saturday is the first time that Tennessee has slipped down to a 6-seed since late February.
When all the dust settled from Friday’s conference tournament games, Tennessee had dropped to No. 15 in the KenPom.com rankings. The Vols have a net rating of +25.97, which barely inches out both Arkansas and Alabama in the two spots behind them. KenPom has Tennessee with the 35th-best offensive rating and the 15th-best defensive rating in the country.
More From RTI: I Simulated Tennessee Basketball’s March Madness Run Heading Into Selection Sunday
Here’s a look at the upcoming March Madness schedule that follows Selection Sunday to close out the weekend:
First Four
- March 17, 18
- Host Site: Dayton, OH
First and Second Rounds
- March 19, 21
- Host Sites: Buffalo, NY | Greenville, SC | Oklahoma City, OK | Portland, OR
– – – - March 20, 22
- Host Sites: Tampa, FL | Philadelphia, PA | San Diego, CA | St. Louis, MO
South Regional (Sweet 16, Elite 8)
- March 26, 28
- Host Site: Houston, TX
West Regional (Sweet 16, Elite 8)
- March 26, 28
- Host Site: San Jose, CA
Midwest Regional (Sweet 16, Elite 8)
- March 27, 29
- Host Site: Chicago, IL
East Regional (Sweet 16, Elite 8)
- March 27, 29
- Host Site: Washington, D.C.
Final Four/Championship
- April 4, 6
- Host Site: Indianapolis, IN
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for full Tennessee NCAA Tournament coverage on Selection Sunday.
More to follow: College Basketball Betting Sites
