ESPN Bracketology: Tennessee one of seven 'realistic' contenders for No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament

There was no change for Tennessee Basketball in Monday’s updated ESPN Bracketology from Joe Lunardi. The Vols are still projected as the top No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament as Lunardi’s No. 5 overall seed.

Lunardi noted on Monday afternoon that there are currently only seven contenders for the four No. 1 seeds: Auburn, Alabama, Duke, Florida, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Houston. 

“No team below Houston (No. 7 overall) is a realistic 1-seed contender at this point,” Lunardi wrote. 

Lunardi’s projections for the Vols line up with what the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, which revealed its current top-16 seeds in a bracket preview on Saturday afternoon. 

The selection committee also had Tennessee as the top No. 2 seed, coming in as the No. 5 overall seed. 

Auburn, Alabama, Duke and Florida are the current No. 1 seeds, in that order. The No. 2 seeds behind Tennessee are Texas A&M, Houston and Iowa State. 

Lunardi’s No. 3 seeds were Wisconsin, Purdue, Kentucky and Texas Tech. The No. 4s were Michigan, Arizona, Michigan State and St. John’s. 

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at No. 7 Texas A&M, Saturday

No. 6 Tennessee (21-5, 7-5 SEC) goes to No. 7 Texas A&M (20-5, 9-3) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ESPN) at Reed Arena in College Station. The Vols do not have a midweek game this week.

On Monday afternoon Tennessee was ranked No. 6 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. The Vols dropped one spot in the AP Top 25 and two spots in the Coaches Poll.

Lunardi currently has 13 SEC teams in his NCAA Tournament projection: Auburn (No. 1 overall seed), Alabama (No. 1 seed, No. 2 overall), Florida (No. 1 seed, No. 4 overall), Tennessee (No. 2 seed, No. 5 overall), Texas A&M (No. 2 seed, No. 6 overall), Kentucky (No. 3 seed, No. 11 overall), Missouri (No. 6 seed, No. 20 overall), Ole Miss (No. 6 seed, No. 21 overall), Mississippi State (No. 7 seed, No. 27 overall), Texas (No. 10 seed, No. 40 overall), Vanderbilt (No. 10 seed, No. 39 overall), Oklahoma (Last Four In, No. 43 overall) and Arkansas (Last Four In, No. 44 overall). Georgia is in the First Four Out category as the No. 70 overall seed. 

Vols are No. 5 in NET rankings and KenPom.com ratings

Tennessee is No. 5 in the NET with an 8-5 record in Quad 1 games and a combined 13-0 record in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games. The win over Vanderbilt Saturday was a Quad 2 win. 

The Vols are also No. 5 in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 87.3 points per 100 possessions, and No. 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 118.4 points per 100 possessions.

Tennessee is sixth in the SEC standings to start the week, 3.5 games back of first-place Auburn (23-2, 11-1) with five games left. Alabama is in second at 10-2, Florida and Texas A&M are tied for third at 9-3 and Missouri is fifth at 8-4.