Tennessee basketball bracketology mostly unchanged after split week vs. top 25 teams

Beating a top five team at home and losing to a top 25 team on the road in which your only offensive threat in the post had to leave the game with 10 minutes left should seem to bring more benefits than harm. Not everybody analyzing Tennessee basketball saw it that way, though.

Rocky Top, which is now 19-7 and 10-4 in the SEC, beat the Kentucky Wildcats by double digits and then lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks by 10 last week. The split moved them to No. 17 in both polls, a one-spot drop in the AP Poll and a four-spot drop in the Coaches Poll.

Although human polls dropped Tennessee basketball, some analytical rankings improved them. They are up to three spots from last week to No. 10 in the RealTime RPI thanks to the No. 5 ranked strength of schedule, and they remain at No. 7 in the ESPN BPI thanks to the No. 2 ranked strength of schedule and No. 13 ranked strength of record.

In the most important rankings used by the Selection Committee, the NCAA NET Rankings, UT down one spot to No. 11. A 1-1 split hurt their overall record, even if it improved their overall Quadrant 1 winning percentage, where they now have a 5-7 record.

Based on all of these rankings, the Vols remain somewhere between a No. 2 and No. 3 seed on the analytical side but a No. 5 seed on the human polls. Bracketology forecasts have split the baby, keeping them largely where they were last week as a No. 4 seed with one exception.

Mike DeCourcy of Fox Sports is the one exception. He has the Vols as a No. 3 seed in the South Region facing the No. 14 seed Wagner Seahawks in the first round and in a weekend-opening bracket with the No. 6 seed Michigan State Spartans and No. 11 seed TCU Horned Frogs. The Arizona Wildcats, whom UT beat, are the top seed in that region.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN, meanwhile, has Tennessee basketball as a No. 4 seed, again in the South Region with Arizona as a top seed, and facing the No. 13 seed Chattanooga Mocs in the first round. He has UT in a weekend opening bracket with the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns and No. 12 seed Davidson Wildcats.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports also has the Vols as a No. 4 seed in the South Region with Arizona as the top seed. They would face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and once again be in a weekend-opening bracket with Texas as the No. 5 seed. In this scenario, they would face the winner of a play-in game for the No. 12 seed between the Memphis Tigers and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

While it is true last week was supposed to be an opportunity to move up in the rankings, those opportunities aren’t done. Tennessee basketball gets the Auburn Tigers at home this week, and they close out the regular season at home against Arkansas. As a result, the Vols could still shoot up the rankings before it’s all said and done. These next two weeks will be interesting.