Where Joe Lunardi projects Tennessee in Saturday's NCAA Tournament Bracket Preview

Tennessee basketball will be the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee reveals its current top-16 seeds on Saturday afternoon, according to the latest projections from ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi on Thursday projected the top-four seed lines, which will be revealed Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS.

Tennessee (18-6, 8-3 SEC) was tied as the No. 8 overall seed with Kansas in Lunardi’s seed list and was in the Midwest Region with No. 1-seed Purdue, the top overall seed, No. 3-seed Iowa State and No. 4-seed Creighton. Iowa State was Lunardi’s No. 9 overall seed and Creighton was No. 16.

Lunarid’s No. 1 seeds alongside Purdue were UConn (East Region), Houston (South Region) and Arizona (West Region), in that order. The No. 2 seeds were Marquette, the No. 5 overall seed, No. 7 North Carolina and then Tennessee and Kansas.

ESPN’s projected NCAA Tournament bracket from Lunardi on Tuesday had the Vols as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest (Detroit), playing No. 15-seed Troy in Charlotte, opposite of No. 7-seed Utah State and No. 10 Butler. 

The opposite quad featured No. 6-seed Florida Atlantic against either New Mexico or Ole Miss, two No. 11 seeds currently projected for the First Four, and No. 3-seed Iowa State and No. 14 Eastern Washington.

Where the Vols stand in the NET, KenPom ratings

Tennessee is No. 7 in the NET, dropping one spot on Wednesday after getting jumped by Auburn. The Tigers beat South Carolina 101-61 on Wednesday night. 

The Vols have a 4-5 Quad 1 record and are 6-1 in Quad 2 games. They’re a combined 8-0 in Quad 2 and Quad 3 games. 

Tennessee is No. 6 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. The Vols are ranked No. 6 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 92.6 points per 100 possessions, and No. 13 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 118.9 points per possession.

A Closer Look: Tennessee’s remaining schedule

After back-to-back road games at Texas A&M and Arkansas — the Vols lost 85-69 at A&M before bouncing back with a 92-63 win at Arkansas — Tennessee will return home for three of its next four games at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols host Vanderbilt on Saturday, go to Missouri on Tuesday and then have home dates with Texas A&M (February 24) and Auburn (February 28).

The tests continue in March with back-to-back road games at Alabama (March 2) and South Carolina (March 6) before closing the regular season at home against Kentucky on Senior Day in Knoxville (March 9).

The SEC Tournament is set for March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday, March 17.