Tennessee Vols have a new primary competitor for a number one seed in the NCAA tournament
Saturday certainly didn't go the way the Tennessee Vols had hoped on Senior Day in Knoxville. Despite a furious rally late in the second half, the Vols fell 85-81 to the Kentucky Wildcats, which snapped Tennessee's 7-game winning streak. The Vols still remained a one seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology despite the loss. However, […]
Saturday certainly didn't go the way the Tennessee Vols had hoped on Senior Day in Knoxville. Despite a furious rally late in the second half, the Vols fell 85-81 to the Kentucky Wildcats, which snapped Tennessee's 7-game winning streak.
The Vols still remained a one seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology despite the loss. However, it's who's pushing them in the final week before Selection Sunday that's changed. The North Carolina Tar Heels moved up to the #5 overall spot, ahead of Arizona.
Arizona's drop was understandable. The Wildcats fell on Saturday night to USC in Los Angeles 78-65. That loss was exacerbated by the fact the Trojans have a poor 13-17 record and were 99 in the NET rankings at the time of the game. A bad loss for sure for the Wildcats at the worst time.
Meanwhile, North Carolina continues to streak in the right direction. They defeated Duke 84-79 on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Arena to win their sixth straight game and clinch the ACC outright regular season title and the top seed in the ACC tournament. If the Tar Heels take the tournament title in Washington, D.C., they will be a very hard team to keep off the top line. The Heels also have a win over the Vols this season, 100-92 in Chapel Hill back on November 29.
As such, it will be incumbent on the Vols to do what they did before Saturday: string several wins together. The Vols' path to the SEC tournament title will be the winner of LSU/Mississippi State on Friday, then likely Auburn or South Carolina on Saturday, with Kentucky or Alabama the most likely team on the other side of the bracket on Sunday.
That would be an impressive run in itself for Tennessee, one that could lock up the school's first tournament one seed in program history. We'll see soon enough if the Vols can pull it off.
Tennessee Vols could get a shot at payback in their first SEC tournament matchup
UT begins its quest for a tournament title on Friday
