The opportunity was there for Tennessee, and the Volunteers have smashed their way through to close the season. A daunting four-game stretch — Auburn, at Alabama, at South Carolina and Kentucky — provided Tennessee with a real chance to go prove themselves worthy of a No. 1 seed.
Through three of those four games, Tennessee is a perfect 3-0. In fact, Tennessee is 9-1 over their last ten games, looking to finish things off in style against Kentucky on Saturday. Following that win on the road against No. 17 South Carolina, all major analysts agree — Tennessee is a projected No. 1 seed.
A look around the Bracketology world on Friday morning gave Tennessee a clean sweep as a No. 1 seed in the West Region. The Volunteers were paired with (2) Arizona in all of these projections.
CBS (Palm): No. 1 seed (West)
ESPN (Lunardi): No. 1 seed (West)
USA Today: No. 1 seed (West)
NCAA.com (Katz): No. 1 seed (West)
A No. 1 seed would be the first in school history for Tennessee. The Volunteers have landed three No. 2 seeds in school history, last happening back in 2019.
The job is far from finished. Of course, Tennessee has another big test on Saturday as they welcome Kentucky to town. And then it’s on to the SEC Tournament. With Arizona being so close to the top line, Tennessee can’t afford much of a slip-up. The Wildcats will close at USC on Saturday night before taking on the Pac-12 Tournament.
Arizona ranks just ahead of Tennessee in the NCAA’s NET rankings, coming in at No. 4. They’re 8-3 in Quad 1 games, while Tennessee is 8-5. However, Tennessee has just one loss outside of Quad 1, while Arizona has three. This is a head to head battle that will likely come down to the wire next weekend.
Selection Sunday is now just a little over a week out. The full NCAA Tournament field will be revealed live on CBS on Sunday, March 17th.