Where Tennessee Stands in Latest NCAA Tournament Projections
The No. 19 Tennessee Vols have earned six straight conference wins and have been victorious in three straight games over Texas A&M, South Carolina and Mississippi State.
The Vols have done a tremendous job offensively in that three game stretch after a horrendous outing against Texas on January 29, as Rick Barnes' squad has averaged 81 points per game since the loss to the Longhorns.
Josiah-Jordan James has been a big reason why, as the junior has totaled 63 points in the last four games, his best stretch in orange and white to date. Kennedy Chandler is coming off of an encouraging 18 point, five steal effort against the Bulldogs, and fellow point guard Zakai Zeigler continued to show he is an excellent tool coming off the bench, posting his fifth straight double-digit effort.
The bad news for Tennessee as of late is the news of Olivier Nkamhoua's likely-season-ending ankle injury he sustained against South Carolina. Nkamhoua has been a brilliant rim protecter and offensive weapon down low for the Vols this season, as the Finland native is an above-average shooter for a player of his size. To replace him, head coach Rick Barnes noted they will look to the freshmen trio of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack. In the first game without Nkamhoua, five-star Huntley-Hatfield logged 15 minutes and scored four points, while Aidoo recorded a career-high 12 minutes and four rebounds along with making a field goal.
With all that being said, let's take a look at how the third ranked SEC team stands in the most recent NCAA Tournament projections.
CBS Sports
In CBS Sports' bracketology expert Jerry Palm's projections, the Vols come in at a No. 4 seed and will take on No. 13 Wagner. Arizona, Purdue and Baylor come in as the top three seeds in the South Region ahead of Tennessee.
No. 6 LSU is also projected by Palm to be in Tennessee's region, a team in which the Vols went 1-1 against in the regular season. The winner of Michigan State vs. SMU/Oklahoma would take on Tennessee in the Round of 32 if the Vols were to advance.
ESPN
ESPN's bracketology expert Joe Lunardi also has the Vols in the South region in his latest projections (updated Friday). Lunardi expects Tennessee to take on No. 12 North Texas in the first round with the winner of Houston and South Dakota State awaiting UT in the Round of 32 if the Vols are able to take care of business.
Lunardi projects Arkansas to be Tennessee's fellow SEC representative in the region come March, giving the Razorbacks a No. 6 seed. Arizona, Baylor, Illinois and Houston come in ahead of the Vols at seeds one through four.
A Look at KenPom Ratings
The Vols are currently No. 11 in KenPom’s ratings and have the eighth greatest strength of schedule remaining. Tennessee has the sixth best defensive efficiency rating, behind only LSU in the SEC (2). Tennessee is 29th in offensive efficiency.
The latest AP Top 25 rankings can be found here, and NCAA's Net Rankings in which Tennessee ranks No. 10 can be found here.
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