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Tennessee basketball bracketology Jan. 22: Are Vols a 4 or 5 seed?

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 67-65 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 67-65 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball is looking at a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament in most bracket projections for the Volunteers as of Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

A split last week with two road games against the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks may have seemed like enough to drop Tennessee basketball one spot in the AP Poll. But among major bracketology experts, it gained them a little more respect.

The Vols are a No. 4 or a No. 5 seed on most credible bracket projections for this week. With their 13-5 record overall, Top 5 strength of schedule in the RPI and Top 15 ranking overall, it would make sense for them to be in that range.

Now, last week they were a No. 6 seed on many sites. And there is still a wide ranger. But overall, a No. 4 or No. 5 seed is what they’re looking at.

They are averaging close to a No. 5 seed, with 5.20 overall, on Bracketmatrix.com. That’s because the composite average is skewed by some projections across the country putting Tennessee basketball as low as a No. 8 seed, which makes very little sense.

But like last week, the Vols fare significantly better among well-known site experts. And that spells good news for them.

They remained a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region with the Purdue Boilermakers as the No. 1 seed, exactly where they were last week, in the bracket put together by Joe Lunardi of ESPN. This bracket projects them facing the Buffalo Bulls in the opening round.

Meanwhile, Tennessee moved up to a No. 4 seed in the fellow FanSided site Busting Brackets projection. There, they would face Missouri State in the East Region in the first round with the Villanova Wildcats as a No. 1 seed.

The ever-so-accurate Delphi Bracketology also bumped up the Vols. They jumped from a No. 6 seed to a No. 5 seed there.

Nothing at all changed for them in Dave Ommen’s Yahoo Sports bracket. Just like last week, they are a No. 5 seed in the Midwest region with Purdue as the No. 1 seed and still facing Middle Tennessee in the first round.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports is keeping the Vols as a No. 4 seed, where he was giving them some extra love last week. This time, they would face the Belmont Bruins in the opening round and be in the East Region with No. 1 seed Villanova.

They stayed a No. 5 seed in the bracket done by Michael Besser of SI, this week though competing in the South region with the Virginia Cavaliers as the No. 1 seed. And like Ommen’s bracket, this one has them facing Middle Tennessee in the first round.

Finally, CollegeSportsMadness.com has them as a No. 5 seed facing Louisiana in the first round. And once again, they would be in a bracket with Purdue as the No. 1 seed.

The interesting part of all this is that three experts have Tennessee basketball in a bracket with Purdue as a No. 1 seed despite the fact that they beat the Boilermakers earlier in the year. Two more have them in one with Villanova as the No. 1 seed. ‘Nova beat the Vols the day after that Purdue game.

Next: SEC Power Rankings Jan. 22: Vols lose ground

Right now, though, it’s clear that Tennessee basketball is firmly in the NCAA Tournament. But with an easy stretch of games coming up, the Vols can only play their way down in the seeding. So they need to run the table the next two weeks if they want to maintain this position at all.

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