Despite a week that saw Tennessee lose to an unranked team at home and defeat a Top 10 team on the road, the Vols are staying on the two-line in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update for ESPN on Tuesday.
The Vols’ offense couldn’t find any rhythm against a skyrocketing South Carolina team in the midweek game but found all the rhythm in the world against Kentucky in Rupp Arena that following Saturday night. The Vols’ win to close down the week was a statement game that showed how dangerous Tennessee can be despite the loss at home from a few days before.
Tennessee has primarily been a two-seed throughout Lunardi’s weekly projections, the only question being what region they land in. For the most part, Tennessee has been slotted in either the East Region or the South Region with a few Midwest Region picks as well.
Lunardi’s Feb. 6 projections have Tennessee as a two-seed in the Midwest Region (Detroit). The Vols’ projected first-round opponent is 15-seed Drexel with a potential second-round matchup against either 7-seed Texas Tech or 10-seed Virginia.
Three familiar opponents also share a spot in Lunardi’s Midwest projections including Purdue, a team that defeated Tennessee during the 2023 Maui Invitational, at the overall No. 1 seed. Duke, a team that Tennessee beat in last season’s March Madness tournament, is the projected three-seed in the region while SEC foe Ole Miss comes in as the nine-seed. Tennessee handily defeated Ole Miss to give the Rebels their first loss of the season to start conference play.
Tennessee and Ole Miss represent two of the nine SEC teams that Lunardi has in his projections, which is an increase of one team from previous weeks as Florida played their way into a “Last Four In” slot.
Midwest Region (Detroit)
- No. 2 Tennessee
- No. 9 Ole Miss
West Region (Los Angeles)
- No. 11 Florida
East Region (Boston)
- No. 3 Alabama
- No. 5 Kentucky
- No. 10 Texas A&M
South Region (Dallas)
- No. 4 Auburn
- No. 6 South Carolina
- No. 10 Mississippi State
More from RTI: Santiago Vescovi’s ‘Unselfish’ Play Leads to Vols’ Win in Rupp
After a week that saw Tennessee face two projected NCAA Tournament teams in back-to-back games, the Vols only have one projected tournament opponent in their next six conference games. Tennessee will host LSU on Wednesday before back-to-back road games at Texas A&M and Arkansas. The Vols will then return home to take on Vanderbilt, hit the road to play Missouri, and will return to Knoxville for another game against the Aggies.
No. 6 Tennessee (16-5, 6-2 SEC) will host LSU (12-9, 4-4 SEC) this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET in the Food City Center.
To see Joe Lunardi’s full Feb. 6 Bracketology board, click here.
