Another week, another Bracketology report.
With Tennessee’s win over No. 22 Ole Miss this past Saturday night to open up SEC play, the Vols have now kept the same No. 5 ranking for two straight weeks. While Purdue, Houston, Kansas, and UConn have held a strong grasp on the Top 5 rankings for a while now, Tennessee is right on the outside of the top four looking in.
Joe Lunardi released his Bracketology report for ESPN on Tuesday morning which features a familiar look for the Vols in comparison to the same reports over the past few weeks. Lunardi gives Rick Barnes’ squad a No. 2 seed ranking but also puts Tennessee back in the South Region as opposed to a two-seed in the East Region from last week. The majority of Lunardi’s rankings have had Tennessee playing in the South Region.
Lunardi’s projected bracket has Tennessee matching up against No. 15 Colgate in the first round and the winner of No. 7 Utah State and No. 10 Texas Tech in the second round. All three of those games are projected to be played in Charlotte, North Carolina.
More from RTI: Tennessee Leading the Pack in Combined Football/Basketball Attendance
There are a good handful of familiar faces for Tennessee in the projected South Region, though.
For starters, the No. 3 seed in the region is Wisconsin, a team that Tennessee took down in Madison in just the second game of the season. The Badgers had two losses in their first three games but have rattled off 11 wins in their last 12 games, including victories over No. 24 Virginia and No. 3 Marquette with only a loss to No. 1 Arizona in the middle. Tennessee defeated Wisconsin by a score of 80-70 in early November.
The four-seed in the South Region is Duke, a team that Tennessee defeated in the second round of the March Madness tournament last season in Orlando, Florida.
And, lastly, Texas A&M falls in as the projected eight-seed in the region. While the Vols haven’t matched up against the Aggies yet this season, Tennessee and Texas A&M will square off twice in a 14-day span in the month of February. There could even be a potential third matchup when the SEC Tournament rolls around later this spring.
Including Tennessee and Texas A&M, Lunardi’s projections have eight teams in the tournament from the Southeastern Conference, which is one fewer than there were last week.
Midwest Region (Detroit)
- No. 2 Kentucky
- No. 8 Ole Miss
- No. 11 Mississippi State (Play-In)
East Region (Boston)
- No. 6 Alabama
- No. 9 South Carolina
South Region (Dallas)
- No. 2 Tennessee
- No. 8 Texas A&M
West Region (Los Angeles)
- No. 3 Auburn
Florida, a team projected at No. 10 last week, is one of Lunardi’s first four teams out in this week’s ranking.
Tennessee made a statement to the SEC with their 90-64 win over No. 22 Ole Miss this past weekend in Knoxville, but the Vols are going to have to go on the road now. Tennessee will take on Mississippi State in Starkville on Wednesday only to turn around and play Georgia in Athens on Saturday. It’ll be a big week for the Vols, but one that can prove to be extremely beneficial and motivating if they can find two wins away from Rocky Top.
For a look at Joe Lunardi’s full Bracketology projections from Tuesday, click the link here.
