Tennessee’s men’s basketball team has followed up its strong 2021-22 season with a strong offseason. The Vols lost star point guard Kennedy Chandler but return upperclassmen Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James after breakout junior seasons.
Pair that with a four-player prep signing class including five-star Julian Phillips and Indiana State transfer Tyreke Key and you have a team poised to compete for a conference title.
ESPN updated its offseason bracketology, showing its belief in Tennessee entering the 2022-23 season.
The updated bracketology tabs Tennessee as the No. 2 in the East Region, playing its first weekend matchups in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Tennessee was previously a three-seed in ESPN’s preseason bracketology.
More From RTI: Tennessee Announces Out Of Conference Schedule
In this preseason prediction, Tennessee plays 15-seed Vermont in the first game of the tournament and would face either No. 7 seed UConn or No. 10 seed Iowa in the Round of 32. Other top seeds in the East Region include No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Villanova and No. 5 Dayton.
Tennessee is one of seven SEC teams in the projected NCAA Tournament including No. 1 seed Kentucky, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 Alabama, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 10 Florida.
The Vols play both No. 3 seed Texas and No. 5 Arizona in out of conference play and could face No. 2 Kansas, No. 5 Dayton and No. 9 Southern Cal in the Bad Boys Mowers Battle4Atlantis.
Tennessee opens Rick Barnes’ eighth season as head coach against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 7 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
