Tennessee basketball’s bracketology projections shockingly improve after loss

An ugly win over the Florida Gators and then a loss to the Texas Longhorns on the road would seem to have slightly dropped Tennessee basketball in most of this week’s rankings. However, for the most part, the Vols either stayed where they were or improved.

They did fall four spots to No. 22 in the AP Poll, but they stayed right at No. 20 in the Coaches Poll. At 14-6 and 5-3 in SEC play, in many cases, they may have just been ranked too low heading into last week’s slate of games.

In the analytical rankings, UT is down two spots from where it was last week in the RealTime RPI to No. 24. However, they didn’t move in the ESPN Basketball Power Index, remaining at No. 8, and they only dropped two spots to No. 13 in the NCAA NET rankings, which is the top metric the Selection committee uses in March.

Honestly, a drop being this insignificant makes sense when you look at who the Vols lost to. They fell by one point on the road to the Texas Longhorns thanks to a foul that shouldn’t have been a foul. Texas is No. 17 in the BPI and the NET Rankings, No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 21 in the Coaches Poll. Now, they are No. 59 in the RPI, but this still isn’t a bad loss.

With another quality opponent on their resume, Rick Barnes’ team now has the No. 2 ranked BPI strength of schedule, the No. 16 ranked BPI strength of record and the No. 15 rank RPI strength of schedule. Simply put, it’s easy to see why they remain in the top 25 across the board.

So how does this affect the projections for them in the NCAA Tournament? Well, Joe Lunardi of ESPN still has them as a No. 4 seed, exactly where he had them last week. In his bracket, the Vols are in the East Region with the No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers.

The Vols would face the No. 13 seed Drake Bulldogs in the first round of Lunardi’s bracket. They would be in a first-weekend bracket with the No. 5 seed Marquette Golden Eagles and No. 12 seed Iona Gaels. There would be no play-in games.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports also didn’t change the Vols’ seeding, as they remained a No. 6 seed in the East Region, where the Wisconsin Badgers would be the No. 1 seed. UT would face the No. 11 seed West Virginia Mountaineers in the first round and be in a weekend-opening bracket with the No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils and No. 14 seed Princeton Tigers.

Mike DeCourcy of FOX Sports shockingly moved the Vols up in his bracket from a No. 7 seed to a No. 5 seed. His bracket had them in the West Region with the No. 1 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs. they would face the No. 12 seed Creighton BlueJays in the first round and be in a weekend-opening bracket with the No. 4 seed Houston Cougars and No. 13 seed Vermont Catamounts.

Honestly, it may be shocking that DeCourcy moved the Vols up so much after a loss, but the truth is it was ridiculous that he had them down at a No. 7 seed a week ago. Maybe they didn’t need to jump up to No. 5, but they at least needed to be a No. 6 seed.

Both DeCourcy and Palm went from disrespecting Tennessee basketball to having them in a respectable spot, with DeCourcy now on the top end of the respect. Lunardi having them as a No. 4 seed is a bit more shocking, but they have proven a lot to this point and likely will have many more opportunities to move up, so watch out.