All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee basketball bracketology: Vols on the outside but clinging to bubble

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 2: Dunk from Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game against the Texas A&M-CC Islanders at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 2, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 2: Dunk from Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half of their game against the Texas A&M-CC Islanders at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 2, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Men’s Tennessee basketball is still alive in the NCAA Tournament race. But the Volunteers are barely being considered a bubble team at the moment.

A blowout loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on the road last week wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee basketball was able to right the ship with a big win over the Vanderbilt Commodores last Saturday. Now, at 11-6 and 3-2 in the SEC with another week and a half of January play, the Vols are hanging on by a thread to remain in the hunt for March Madness.

Ahead of a scheduled home matchup against the 9-8 Ole Miss Rebels, UT entered Tuesday night at No. 62 in NET rankings, at No. 52 in the BPI and at No. 60 in the RealTime RPI with the No. 42 ranked strength of schedule. However, they have a brutal road left, and their final projections are to have the No. 5 ranked strength of schedule and No. 47 RPI ranking.

That indicates a team strongly on the bubble, but to stay in the hunt, Tennessee basketball has to run the table. Rocky Top can’t afford to lose to teams like Ole Miss if that’s going to happen. However, after Ole Miss, playing the Kansas Jayhawks this weekend should help their strength of schedule surge once again.

However, it’s not showing at the moment. There’s a lack of faith in this team. Joe Lunardi of ESPN has five SEC teams in there, and the Vols are not one of them. They aren’t even in the First Four Out or Next Four out, which include two more SEC teams.

The same holds true for College Sports Madness, which isn’t giving the Vols any love either. It has four SEC teams projected to get in right now and no other SEC teams among its First Eight Out, putting the Vols even further behind the eight-ball.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, however, is showing a bit more respect. He’s got six SEC teams in, and the Vols are one of his First Four Out. What that combined with their rankings show is that the Vols do have a path to the NCAA Tournament.

Again, it’s only January. What this really shows is that the analysts don’t yet trust Barnes to be able to adjust to his new team, which is now without Lamonte Turner but does have Uros Plavsic and Santiago Vescovi.

Right now, Tennessee basketball is 1-1 with its new identity. Still, there’s a week and a half of January left, so the Vols have plenty of time to get things right. Doing it as their schedule gets tougher allows them a chance to improve, and with their projected resume at the end, they won’t have to do too much to be considered an NCAA Tournament team.

Home/Vols Basketball