Tennessee basketball still tied with fourth-best odds to win the national championship

Tennessee basketball is still tied for the fourth-best odds to win the NCAA Tournament, according to updated odds from BetOnline. The Vols are 14/1 to win the title along with North Carolina, trailing only Purdue (8/1), UConn (8/1) and Houston (19/2).

BetOnline updated the odds on Thursday. Tennessee opened with 28/1 odds in April, moved up to 25/1 odds in May and dropped as low as 33/1 in June. The Vols had 22/1 odds on December 1 and 28/1 odds on January 2. 

Tennessee (15-5, 5-2 SEC), looking to bounce back from an ugly 63-59 loss to South Carolina on Tuesday at Rupp Arena, goes to Kentucky (15-4,5-2) on Saturday for an 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN) at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Vols remain the highest-seeded SEC team in ESPN Bracketology

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has the Vols as a No. 2 seed and the top-seeded SEC team in his NCAA Tournament projection. He has eight teams in his field of 68.

Alabama is the second highest SEC team as the No. 12 overall seed, ahead of Kentucky (No. 15), Auburn (No. 16), South Carolina (No. 24), Ole Miss (No. 33), Mississippi State (No. 34) and Texas A&M (No. 40). 

Florida (No. 72) is in Lunardi’s “First Four Out” category. Georgia is also on the outside looking in as the No. 84 overall seed.

Tennessee dropped one spot in the NET rankings after the loss to South Carolina. It was the first non-Quad 1 loss of the season for the Vols and moved them to 5-1 in Quad 2 games. The Vols are 3-4 in Quad 1, 2-0 in Quad 2 and 5-0 in Quad 3. 

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee at No. 10 Kentucky, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

The KenPom.com ratings has Tennessee at No. 6 entering Friday. The Vols were No. 3 in the ratings after the win at Vanderbilt Saturday night. 

Most notably, Tennessee has dropped 12 spots in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating — scoring 116.9 points per 100 possessions — going from No. 18 to No. 30 after scoring a season-low 59 points against the Gamecocks.

After the road trip to Kentucky, Tennessee hosts LSU and goes back on the road for back-to-back games against Teas A&M and Arkansas. Vanderbilt comes to Knoxville, then its back on the road at Missouri before February ends with home dates against A&M and Auburn.

There are three March games on the regular-season schedule, with road games at Alabama on March 2 and South Carolina on March 6, then the annual home game against Kentucky on March 9.

The SEC Tournament is set for March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with Selection Sunday and the reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket set for March 17.