Tennessee's SEC Tournament Path

Tennessee has an easier draw compared to other teams playing on day two.

Now that the regular season is over, we can't sit here and map out how Tennessee can get what seed, among other things. We have a bracket in front of us now, and in less than a week, we'll get another one. 

Tennessee is the five seed in the SEC Tournament, a seed many couldn't imagine how the Vols were playing after beating Texas in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. This is reality, though, and fortunately for Rick Barnes' team, compared to other teams playing on day two in Nashville, Tennessee didn't get the short end of the stick.

Tennessee will open its SEC Tournament campaign on Thursday in the second game of the day. The Vols will play the winner of South Carolina and Ole Miss. Ole Miss will be a fairly heavy favorite in the game, but the Gamecocks have been playing much better down the stretch, so certainly don't count them out. 

In the regular season, Tennessee only played Ole Miss once. It was back in December in Oxford, and the Vols won the game by 4. South Carolina, on the other hand, played Tennessee twice, and the Vols won both matchups by 40+ points.

After what hopefully will be a game in which Tennessee coasts, the Vols will see Missouri in the quarterfinals. Every ranking and metric in the country says the Vols are better than the Tigers, but a loss on a DeAndre Gholston buzzer-beater back on February 11th is why Missouri was awarded the double bye. With revenge on their mind, this is a game that Tennessee will not only be favored in but should win.

Once you get to Saturday in the SEC Tournament, you must beat good teams to win the championship. Even if Tennessee were to run into a lower-seeded team, that team would have won two games in a row coming into the semis. If the Vols were to advance to the semis, they'd most likely play Alabama. 

On that note, the one seed has lost their quarterfinal matchup in the SEC Tournament in three of the last four tournaments. Mississippi State or Florida can beat Alabama, as the Crimson Tide have not played their best basketball lately.

There are a lot of good teams in the bottom half of the bracket, so saying who Tennessee could play in the championship is very tough. Tennessee got the best draw of any team in the bottom half. The Cats will likely have to play a Vanderbilt team without Liam Robbins in the quarterfinals. The Commodores have had a good year, but with Robbins out, you'd rather play them than Auburn or Arkansas.

Regardless, Tennessee winning four games in a row in Nashville will be tough without a true point guard. The defense will have to be as good as it has been all year, and Santiago Vescovi will have to excel in his new role as the primary ball-handler. The Vols won this tournament last season, and their winning it again will assure them a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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