Tennessee basketball earned a marquee win for its resume on Saturday afternoon, defeating sixth-ranked Alabama 79-76 in Knoxville.
The Vols entered the weekend as ESPN Joe Lunardi’s top two-seed in the NCAA Tournament. But Tennessee jumped Alabama and is now Lunardi’s last one-seed following the thrilling victory.
Lunardi has Tennessee as the one-seed in the West Region. He hasn’t released a whole new bracket yet but Tennessee would presumably be in Lexington the first weekend before going to San Fransisco for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The other top teams in the Lunardi’s projected West Region include two-seed Iowa State, three-seed Wisconsin and four-seed Texas A&M.
While Tennessee enters the final week of the regular season projected to be a one-seed, that’s still no certainty. First off, the Vols need to win both of their games this week. Tennessee heads on the road to face a good Ole Miss team on Wednesday before hosting South Carolina at home on Saturday to close the regular season.
But even if Tennessee wins both its games this week, they may need some breaks to remain on the one line. The Vols are just barely ahead of both Alabama and Florida. Both the Crimson Tide and Gators have serious opportunities to boost their resumes this week.
The two teams face off in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night. Alabama goes on the road to face Auburn on Saturday while Florida hosts Ole Miss. Even if Tennessee wins both games this week, Alabama would likely jump the Vols if they won both games. Florida might even jump Tennessee if they won both games.
All three teams, especially Tennessee and Alabama, have incredibly similar resumes. While Tennessee has the pole position right now, the final one seed is still up for grabs. Here’s a look at the three teams resumes.
More From RTI: What Seed Will Tennessee Be At SEC Tournament? Where Things Stand A Week Out
Tennessee
- NET ranking: No. 5
- Quad 1 record: 10-5
- Quad 2 record: 4-0
- Quad 3 record: 4-0
- Quad 4 record: 6-0
Alabama
- NET ranking: No. 6
- Quad 1 record: 10-6
- Quad 2 record: 7-0
- Quad 3 record: 4-0
- Quad 4 record: 2-0
Florida
- NET ranking: No. 4
- Quad 1 record: 6-4
- Quad 2 record: 9-0
- Quad 3 record: 4-0
- Quad 4 record: 6-0
