Tennessee basketball enters SEC Tournament firmly a top 3 seed in bracketology forecasts

It’s always good to be peaking at the right time, and that’s exactly the position Tennessee basketball is in as they enter postseason play. With their first Southeastern Conference Tournament game set to begin Friday, NCAA Tournament forecasts for the Vols are higher than ever across the board.

At 23-7 and 14-4 in conference play, UT is a No. 2 seed in the SEC Tourney. They are on a four-game winning streak that includes two top 25 wins, most recently their regular season finale over the Arkansas Razorbacks. This shot them up four spots to No. 9 in the AP Poll and two spots to No. 11 in the Coaches Poll.

In the analytical rankings, Tennessee basketball is up to No. 10 in the RealTime RPI thanks to the No. 6 ranked strength of schedule and six quality wins. They are No. 7 in the ESPN BPI thanks to the No. 6 ranked strength of schedule and No. 7 ranked strength of record.

The all-important NCAA NET Rankings have the Vols at No. 8 thanks to an 8-7 Quadrant 1 record and an undefeated record in all other quadrants. This obviously suggests that Rocky Top is clearly in the No. 2 seed to No. 3 seed range, and after flirting with the 3-seed last week, that’s where they are across the board in NCAA Tournament forecasts now.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN was the one person who moved Rick Barnes’ team up to a No. 3 seed last week, and he’s keeping them there this week. He has the Vols staying in the South Region as well, just as he did last week, where the Baylor Bears would be the No. 1 seed.

UT’s first-round opponent in Lunardi’s bracket would stay the same too, as it would be the No. 14 seed Princeton Tigers. They’d be in a first-weekend pod with the No. 6 seed Iowa Hawkeyes, a team they have had recent success with in the Big Dance, and No. 11 seed Davidson Wildcats.

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports moved Tennessee basketball up from a No. 4 seed to a No. 3 seed in his bracket, coming late to the party. He also has them in the South Region, where he had them last week, and he’s still got the Arizona Wildcats, a team UT beat, as the No. 1 seed there.

This forecast has the Vols facing the No. 14 seed Vermont Catamounts, and joining them in a weekend-opening pod would be the No. 6 seed Texas Longhorns and No. 11 seed Memphis Tigers. Given their close loss at Texas and the Memphis game being canceled, that would be interesting.

Mike DeCourcy of FOX Sports was ahead of everybody in making Rocky Top a No. 3 seed, as he was there two weeks ago. He still has them in the South Region with Arizona as the No. 1 seed as well, although things around the Vols have changed more in his bracket than elsewhere.

A familiar Big Dance foe would be the Vols’ first-round opponent here, the No. 14 seed Colgate Raiders, who the Vols beat three years ago in the first round. They would be in a weekend-opening bracket with the No. 6 seed Houston Cougars and the No. 11 seed Miami Hurricanes.

Given the range of the rankings shown earlier, you’d think at least one forecaster would have the Vols as a No. 2-seed. After all, they averaged out at No. 9, which is one spot below a 2-seed, and two separate rankings, including the most valued one, had them at No. 7.

Of course, Tennessee basketball could go even higher depending on how it performs in the SEC Tournament. To be fair, they could drop a bit, but they are almost a lock for a top four seed at this point. The range isn’t big enough, so the focus on the SEC Tourney could be just about winning it.