Aside from a quick social media update that saw Tennessee briefly move up to a one-seed, the Vols have had the same tournament projection over the last several weeks.
The Bracketology projections come courtesy of ESPN expert Joe Lunardi, who has been tracking the projected 68-team tournament throughout the season. And now, with just a few weeks remaining until conference play, spots are starting to become somewhat repetitive as teams lock-in.
Tennessee’s projection comes after a week in which the Vols decimated two conference foes to the tune of 64 points. While the two wins are nothing short of impressive considering the way Tennessee bullied a team on the road and an in-state rival at home, Arkansas and Vanderbilt are the third-to-last and the second-to-last ranked teams in the conference. Tennessee might not have added any Top 25 wins this week but certainly showed that they can handle business when needed.
According to Lunardi’s tournament projections on Tuesday, Rick Barnes’ squad is still occupying the two-seed position in the Midwest Region (Detroit).
Tennessee’s first-round projected opponent is 15-seed Quinnipiac with a potential second-round matchup against either 7-seed Utah State or 10-seed Nebraska.
Two familiar opponents also land in the projected Midwest Region with Purdue as the 1-seed and Kentucky as the 5-seed in the region, projecting the two to square off before either potentially meets Tennessee in an Elite 8 game. Other notables from the region include 3-seed Baylor, 4-seed San Diego State, 8-seed Texas, and 9-seed Virginia.
Tennessee fell to Purdue early in the season during the Maui Invitation and dropped 103 points on Kentucky in a win at Rupp Arena in early February. The Vols are set to host the Wildcats for their final regular-season meeting in the regular-season finale on March 9.
For a second straight week, the SEC boasts nine projected tournament teams as Florida continues to skyrocket. The Gators aren’t even the lowest-projected team from the SEC anymore with that title going to Ole Miss, one of Lunardi’s last four teams in.
No. 5 Tennessee is the highest-ranked SEC team in the AP Top 25 poll and the highest-projected team from Joe Lunardi on Tuesday.
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SEC Teams in the Feb. 20 Tournament Projection
East Region (Boston)
- 4-seed Auburn (prev. 3-seed)
- 7-seed Florida (prev. 8-seed)
- 11-seed Ole Miss [play-in game] (prev. 11-seed)
West Region (Los Angeles)
- 7-seed South Carolina (prev. 5-seed)
- 11-seed Texas A&M (prev. 7-seed)
Midwest Region (Detroit)
- 2-seed Tennessee (prev. 2-seed)
- 5-seed Kentucky (prev. 6-seed)
South Region (Dallas)
- 3-seed Alabama (prev. 3-seed)
- 10-seed Mississippi State (prev. 9-seed)
To check out Joe Lunardi’s full Feb. 20 Bracketology report for ESPN, click here.
