Tennessee Basketball on track for lowest NCAA Tournament seed under Rick Barnes

Tennessee Basketball is on track for its lowest NCAA Tournament seed during the Rick Barnes era. As of Saturday, the Vols were projected to be a No. 6 seed — they’ve never been lower than a No. 5 under Barnes — and the No. 22 overall seed by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. 

During the current program-record run of seven straight NCAA Tournament trips under Barnes, the Vols have been a No. 2 seed three times (2019, 2024 and 2025), a No. 3 seed twice (2018, 2022), a No. 4 seed once (2024) and a No. 5 seed (2021).

The 2019, 2024 and 2025 Tennessee were all the No. 5 overall seed on the 68-team seed list. The 2018 and 2022 teams were both the No. 10 overall seed, while the 2023 team was the No. 14 overall seed and the 2021 team was No. 19 overall. 

No. 20 Tennessee (7-3) is currently riding a three-game losing streak heading into its home game against No. 11 Louisville (9-1) on Tuesday night (7 Eastern Time, ESPN) at Food City Center. 

The Vols lost to Kansas on November 26, at Syracuse on December 2 and against Illinois in Nashville last Saturday. Syracuse lost at home to Hofstra on Saturday, Illinois lost at home to Nebraska and Kansas won in overtime at North Carolina State. 

Tennessee is down to No. 36 in the updated NET rankings, with a 1-2 record in Quad 1 games, a 0-1 record in Quad 2 and a combined 6-0 record in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games.

 The Vols are ranked No. 18 overall by KenPom.com, coming in at No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.0) and No. 39 in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.1).

Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history under Rick Barnes

Tennessee with the No. 5 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament was upset No. 12 Oregon State in the first round. The Vols are coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances as No. 2 seeds and were a No. 4 seed that advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2023.

Tennessee lost as No. 3 seed in 2022 to No. 11 seed Michigan and lost as a No. 3 seed in 2018 to No. 11 Loyola Chicago.

The Vols went to the Sweet 16 as a No. 2 seed in 2019 before being upset by No. 3-seed Purdue in overtime. 

2026 NCAA Tournament sites

The sites for the first and second rounds of this year’s NCAA Tournament are Greenville, S.C., Oklahoma City, Portland, Tampa, Philadelphia, San Diego and St. Louis. 

The regional sites are Houston (South Region), San Jose, Calif. (West Region), Chicago (Midwest Region) and Washington, D.C. (East Region). 

The Final Four will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where Tennessee’s 2024-25 season ended in an Elite Eight loss to Houston.