Tennessee basketball a 3-seed in early 2021 bracketology projections
The Tennessee basketball Volunteers still aren’t getting the love they could get.
A 5-0 start and two Power Five wins by Tennessee basketball is impressive alone. When that includes a top five defense and top 30 offense across all statistical categories, it seems as if they’re living up to their preseason hype.
However, ranked No. 8 in both polls, they still have more to prove across some bracketology projections, and that’s now on display with some of the reports that have been released this week. Projections updating in real time this season have UT still fighting for a top two seed.
After starting them out as a No. 5 seed, Joe Lunardi of ESPN is finally giving Tennessee basketball the love it deserves. Perhaps this is after he got burned with his projection of the Kentucky Wildcats, now 1-5, as a No. 4 seed to start the season, but he moved the Vols up to a No. 3 seed on Dec. 15 and kept them there this week.
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Lunardi has UT facing the No. 14 seed Toledo Rockets in the first round in a bracket with the No. 1 seed Villanova Wildcats. The Vols’ first weekend bracket would also include the No. 6 seed Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 11 seed SMU Mustangs.
One day before Lunardi’s updated bracket, Delphi Bracketology also had the Vols as a No. 3 seed. In its bracket, UT would face the No. 14 seed Wright State Raiders, a team it beat back in 2018 in the NCAA Tournament, in the first round.
That first weekend bracket would also include the No. 6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 11 seed Providence Friars. Meanwhile, the Baylor Bears would be the No. 1 seed in that region, which would be the South region.
Now, since these are real-time projections, they could actually be lower than other preseason projections. For instance, CBS Sports’ preseason bracketology had Tennessee basketball as a No. 2 seed in the tournament.
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Despite their 5-0 start, however, the Vols haven’t beaten a ranked team or played a team away from home yet. They had to cancel multiple quality games to start the season. As a result, they’ll need SEC play to prove themselves. However, given the way they have looked so far, a No. 3 seed could be the floor for this team.