Tennessee basketball: Vols fall to the 2 line in latest bracketology

In the last bracketology update of the regular season, the Tennessee basketball team falls to the two line in most projections.

The Tennessee basketball team ended the 2018-19 regular season with a loss to the Auburn Tigers. The loss gave the Vols their fourth of the season and their third in the past seven games so, as you can imagine Tennessee has fallen in most protections and is widely viewed as a number two seed.

As always we want to keep you up to date with all the latest bracketology, and we begin with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s projections which were updated March 11, 2019. You can find the entire bracket projection here.

Joe Lunardi

Lunardi no longer has Tennessee as a number one seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. His list on number one seeds includes Virginia (East), North Carolina (Midwest), Gonzaga (West), and Kentucky (South).

I would guess that the winner of the Kentucky-Tennessee game on Saturday would receive the number one team assuming both teams win on Friday night.

The two seeds include Tennessee (East), Michigan State (Midwest), LSU (West), and Duke (Louisville). At this point, wouldn’t most Tennessee fans prefer to say the number two seed in Virginia’s bracket instead of being the number one seed and having Duke as the number two?

The remaining East bracket looks like this.

1) Virginia vs. 16) Iona/Norfolk State

8) Washington vs. 9) Ole Miss 

5) Maryland vs. 12) Murray State

4) Kansas vs. 13) Hofstra

6) Nevada vs. 11) Texas

3) Houston vs. 14) Montana 

7) Louisville vs. 10) Minnesota

2) Tennessee vs. 15) Colgate

I could be wrong, but the looks of Tennessee’s half of the bracket doesn’t look too bad. Playing Louisville in the second round wouldn’t be ideal, but I would still bet Tennessee to the Sweet Sixteen without hesitation.

CBS Sport’s Jerry Palm’s latest update was March 4, 2019. You can find the entire bracket projection here.

Jerry Palm

I have agreed with Palm for most of the season. I never felt the knee-jerk reaction from him like Lunardi. But, Tennessee is listed as the two seed in his projection as well, and rightfully so. Palm has the same number one and number two seeds as Lunardi.

Here is a complete look into the East bracket.

1) Virginia vs. 16) St. Francis/Norfolk State

8) Wofford vs. 9) Baylor

5) Marquette vs. 12) New Mexico State

4) Kansas vs. 13) UC Irvine

6) Villanova vs. 11) Arizona State

3) Purdue vs. 14) Old Dominion

7) Louisville vs. 10) Washington

2) Tennessee vs. 15) Colgate

Like Lunardi, Palm has a potential second round matchup against Louisville. That could be a really tricky game for the Vols. However, I think Volnation should be happy with this draw as well. Either way, Tennessee should have a decent path to the Sweet Sixteen.