Bracketology: Tennessee projected as a No. 1 seed following win over Texas

Jan 30, 2023 - 2:44 PM

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After another undefeated week and a couple of convincing wins — one of which coming over No. 10 Texas — Tennessee is firmly on the one-seed line in the latest round of bracketology. The Volunteers took care of business at home against the Longhorns on Saturday night in Knoxville, giving them another resume-building win as we slowly approach March.

Pair that with Alabama stumbling and Houston struggling over their last three games, and Tennessee has made up some serious ground over the last 14 days.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Tennessee is now the projected No. 4 overall seed. Purdue, Alabama, Houston and Tennessee are his projected No. 1 seeds as we head into February.

At BracketMatrix, Tennessee is working towards becoming a consensus No. 1 seed.

The Volunteers hold two wins over Lunardi’s top eight seeds (Kansas/Texas). They suffered a close road loss to Arizona, and will play Alabama on February 15th in Knoxville. Down the stretch, Tennessee will play Auburn twice, travel to Kentucky, and host Arkansas. Outside of that, the schedule is fairly light for the Volunteers, with the SEC having a down year.

Tennessee also became KenPom’s top-ranked team over the weekend, anchored by the best defense in the country. The offense is starting to catch up, thanks to the return of Josiah-Jordan James and the emergence of Olivia Nkamhoua in the paint. A white hot Zakai Zeigler certainly hasn’t hurt either.

Outside of an off day against Kentucky, Tennessee has been one of the most consistent teams in the country since conference play began. Still, those Rick Barnes tournament questions remain — can the Volunteers win when it counts?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Tennessee is now up to fourth overall in the 2023 NCAA Tournament title odds. Houston still has a big lead on the field, followed by Alabama and Purdue. Tennessee, Kansas, UCLA and Arizona make up the next group.

Below is a full look at the complete picture.

2023 NCAA Tournament Odds

Houston +600

Alabama +1000

Purdue +1000

Tennessee +1200

Kansas +1200

UCLA +1400

Arizona +1800

Virginia +2200

UConn +2500

Baylor +2500

Xavier +2800

Texas +2800

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See DraftKings.com/sportsbook for details.