March Madness: Tennessee gets a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, will face No. 15 Saint Peter's
Tennessee basketball is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region and will face No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s on Thursday in Charlotte. The 68-team March Madness bracket was announced Sunday evening on CBS.
Purdue is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, with Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit as the host for the region’s Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games. Creighton is the No. 3 seed and Kansas is the No. 4 seed. Texas is the No. 7 seed and the No. 10 seed will be either Virginia or Colorado State out the First Four in Dayton.
Saint Peter’s (19-13) was the No. 15 seed in 2022, when the Peacocks beat No. 2 Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue on a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight, before losing to No. 8 North Carolina.
Tennessee (24-8), the No. 5 overall seed in the field, won an outright SEC regular-season championship, clinching the title with a 66-59 win at South Carolina on March 6, but lost in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament on Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, falling 73-56 to Mississippi State.
The 2023-24 Tennessee basketball team is one of just 10 in program history to win at least 24 games. The Vols have won 24 or more games five times during the Rick Barnes era.
Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history under Rick Barnes
Tennessee under Barnes has been a No. 2 seed, a No. 3 seed twice, a No. 4 seed and a No. 5.
A year ago the Vols went to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed, beating No. 13-seed Louisiana in the first round and No. 5 Duke in the second round. They lost 62-55 to No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the third round.
They were a No. 3 in 2022, beating Longwood in the first round before being upset by No. 11-seed Michigan in the second round. They were a No. 3 in 2018, beating Wright State before losing to No. 11-seed Loyola-Chicago.
Tennessee’s history as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament
Three times in program history Tennessee has been a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament: 2006, 2008 and 2019.
In 2019, the Vols beat No. 15-seed Colgate 77-70 in the first round in Columbus, Ohio, survived No. 7-seed Iowa 83-77 in overtime in the second round, then lost to No. 3-seed Purdue 99-94 in overtime in Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen.
Tennessee in 2008 beat American 72-57 in the first round and Butler in the second round, 76-71 in overtime, before losing 79-60 to Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen.
The Vols in 2006 beat Winthrop 63-61 in the first round in Greensboro, then lost 80-73 to No. 7-seed Wichita State in the second round.
