As usual, we’re looking at Joe Lunardi’s latest ESPN Bracketology projections for Rick Barnes’ Tennessee basketball team each week, with this week being a particularly good week for the Vols.
In fact, it was a downright dominant week for the Vols.
While the weather was ice-cold outside the arena on both days, Tennessee defended their red-hot home court against two SEC rivals with a 19-point win over Florida on Tuesday and a stifling 20-point win over Alabama on Saturday.
The Vols were led by Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo from a scoring perspective. Knecht burst for 39 points against the Gators and extended his four-game scoring streak to 128 points against Alabama. Aidoo, on the other hand, was a model of consistency with 19 points in both wins. Tennessee’s week was good enough to bump the Vols up one spot to No. 5 in the latest AP Poll from Monday.
Tennessee remains firm as a projected two-seed according to Lunardi, though. The Vols have been a projected two-seed for the vast majority of the season, mainly bumping between the South Region and the East Region with an occasional landing spot in the Midwest Region.
Lunardi’s projection this week has Tennessee staying as a two-seed but moving from the Midwest Region (Detroit) to the South Region (Dallas). Tennessee’s projected first-round matchup has the Vols squaring off against 15-seed Saint Peter’s with a potential second-round matchup against either 7-seed Michigan State or 10-seed New Mexico from Charlotte, N.C.
Speaking of Michigan State, though, the Spartans are one of a handful of familiar teams in Tennessee’s projected bracket after the Vols inched out Michigan State in a preseason game a few months back. The hypothetical region also hosts 1-seed North Carolina, 5-seed Alabama, and 11-seed Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide could see a nice rise though as these projections were released prior to Alabama’s win over Top 10 Auburn on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa.
For a third straight week, the same eight teams from the Southeastern Conference are projected for the tournament’s 68-team field. Florida is one of Lunardi’s first eight teams out while Ole Miss is one of his last four teams in.
Midwest Region (Detroit)
- No. 3 Auburn
- No. 9 Mississippi State
West Region (Los Angeles)
- No. 8 Texas A&M
- No. 11 South Carolina
East Region (Boston)
- No. 3 Kentucky
South Region (Dallas)
- No. 2 Tennessee
- No. 5 Alabama
- No. 11 Ole Miss (Play-In Game selection)
More from RTI: Starting Five: Tennessee Basketball Enters Open Date With One Conference Loss
Tennessee will play three projected NCAA Tournament teams from the SEC over their next five games. The Vols head to Nashville this weekend for a Saturday night matchup (6 p.m. ET) against Vanderbilt, followed by a home game against South Carolina next Tuesday (Jan. 30). Tennessee then plays at Kentucky on Feb. 3, LSU in Knoxville on Feb. 7, and at Texas A&M on Feb. 10.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for the latest around Tennessee Basketball.
To view Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology report in full, click here.
