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Tennessee basketball bracketology Feb. 20: Vols still looking at a 4-seed

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball’s NCAA Tournament projections haven’t changed much despite losing two of three. The Volunteers still look like a fourth-seed.

Considering the fact that they were staring at a potential No. 2 seed just a couple of weeks ago, this isn’t a crazy idea. But with Tennessee basketball losing two of three and looking bad in all three, you’d think their NCAA Tournament stock would still plummet a bit more than it did this week.

Well, it didn’t. Sure, the Vols dropped to No. 19 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. But they remain a No. 4 seed across the board in NCAA Tournament major projections.

With the No. 14 ranked RPI and the No. 15 ranked strength of schedule to complement a 19-7 record, that may make sense. But usually Bracketology experts don’t weigh things that heavily on the RPI. That’s what the selection committee does. Perhaps they’ve caught up.

Anyway, the composite average across BracketMatrix has the projections for the Vols now at a 4-seed, and with the number at 3.92, they are closer to a 3-seed than a 5-seed. This comes despite a recent road loss to the Georgia Bulldogs and a 28-point loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Vols are also a No. 4 seed on Delphi Bracketology projections, which as we’ve mentioned, has been the most accurate service projecting NCAA Tournament seeds for the past three years.

Fellow FanSided site Busting Brackets has the Vols as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest region set to face East Tennessee State in the first round. In that bracket, Xavier is the No. 1 seed.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN also has Tennessee basketball as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest region with Xavier as the No. 1 seed. In that bracket, the Vols face the Buffalo Bulls in the first round.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has the Vols as a No. 4 seed in the South region with the Virginia Cavaliers as the No. 1 seed. They would face Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round of that bracket.

Meanwhile, Dave Ommen of Yahoo Sports has the Vols as a 4-seed facing East Tennessee State like Bustin Brackets. But in this case, they are in the South Region like Palm’s bracket with Virginia as the No. 1 seed.

College Sports Madness, however, has Tennessee basketball as a No. 4 seed in the bracket with Villanova as the No. 1 seed. In that projection, they would face Charleston.

With the Florida Gators at home and Ole Miss Rebels on the road this week, the Vols likely can’t do too much to improve their standing. In fact, it’s going to be hard for them to move to the 3-seed or 2-seed the rest of the way. However, if they win out before the tournament, they have a great shot. And as we saw with the seeding this week, they’re clearly getting some love. So Rick Barnes’s team still has a lot to play for.

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