ESPN Bracketology update moves Tennessee closer to home

Tennessee basketball dropping to a No. 6 seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology update put the Vols closer to home for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The new bracket projection from Joe Lunardi on Saturday moved Tennessee to Greenville, S.C., for the first weekend.

Lunardi dropped Tennessee from a No. 5 to a No. 6 after the loss to Vanderbilt on Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. That also meant a move from previous projections of Portland and San Diego to Greenville.

He now has Tennessee as the No. 6 in the South Region facing No. 11 Miami (Ohio) in the first round, opposite of No. 3 Purdue and No. 14 Purdue. Wisconsin replaced the Vols as the final No. 5 seed and are in Portland in Lunardi’s new bracket.

Vanderbilt moved up to the final No. 4 seed with the win over Tennessee, dropping Texas Tech to a No. 5 seed.

The sites for the first and second rounds of this year’s NCAA Tournament are Greenville, S.C., Oklahoma City, Portland, Tampa, Philadelphia, San Diego and St. Louis. The regional sites are Houston (South Region), San Jose, Calif. (West Region), Chicago (Midwest Region) and Washington DC (East Region). 

The Fina Four will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Vols ranked No. 15 in KenPom, No. 20 in NET

Tennessee dropped two spots to No. 15 overall in the KenPom.com ratings after the loss to Vanderbilt. The Vols are No. 15 in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.2) and No. 35 in adjusted offensive efficiency (121.2). 

Tennessee is No. 15 in the BartTorvik.com ratings while ranked No. 13 on defense and No. 32 on offense.  EvanMiya.com has the Vols at No. 16 overall, ranked No. 13 on defense and No. 32 on offense.

The NET had Tennessee at No. 19 after dropping the Vols as low as No. 36 earlier this season. The Vols started at No. 13 in the first NET rankings update of the season. They’re 6-10 in Quad 1 games, 6-1 in Quad 2 and a combined 10-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4.

Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament history under Rick Barnes

Tennessee has never been seeded lower than No. 5 during the Rick Barnes era. The fifth-seeded Tennessee team was upset by No. 12 Oregon State in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. 

The Vols are coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances as No. 2 seeds and were a No. 4 seed that advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2023. Tennessee lost as a No. 3 seed in 2022 to No. 11-seed Michigan and lost as a No. 3 seed in 2018 to No. 11 Loyola Chicago.

The 2018-19 team was a No. 2 seed before losing to No. 3 Purdue in overtime in the Sweet 16.