Tennessee basketball is No. 5 seed in SEC Tournament

Tennessee basketball will be the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament.

The Vols landed in the fifth-spot following their 86-82 loss to Vanderbilt, which squandered the opportunity to have a double-bye in Nashville as a top-four seed.

The Vols (21-10, 11-7 SEC) will play on Thursday against the winner of the first-round game between the No. 12 Auburn and No. 13 Mississippi State on Wednesday.

UT will play in the second game in the early session Thursday.

The tournament starts Wednesday. The championship game is on Sunday prior the NCAA Tournament selection show.

Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022, its first conference tournament title since 1979. It has reached the finals four times under Rick Barnes, losing to Florida in 2025, Kentucky in 2018 and Auburn in 2019.

It had a double-bye in each of the past two seasons and had earned one six times in the prior eight seasons under Barnes.

UT was the No. 1 seed in 2024 as the SEC regular-season champions. It was the No. 2 seed in 2018 and 2022. It was the third seed in 2019 and No. 4 seed in 2021 and 2025.

The Vols advanced to the semifinals in all but one of the six years it earned a double-bye. It was upset as the No. 1 seed in 2024.