Vols Bracketology: Looking at Potential Opponents in the Latest Projections

The No. 9 Tennessee Vols basketball team has hit their stride at the best possible time, having defeated 12 of their last 13 opponents in conference play to end the season, including wins over No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 15 Arkansas.

Now that the regular season is over, Tennessee finishes as the number two seed in the SEC Tournament, as the Vols hold the tiebreaker over Kentucky. Tennessee will face either No. 7 South Carolina or No. 10 Mississippi State in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m. ET in Tampa Bay. The Vols will be looking for their fifth SEC Tournament title in program history, their most recent championship coming in 1979.

Following the conference tournament, the Vols will look to the NCAA Tournament, where they figure to serve as at least a top-four seed in whatever region they land in later this month.

ESPN, NCAA.com and CBS Sports all have Tennessee projected as a No. 3 seed in the tournament. A breakdown of their bracketology projections is below.

ESPN– Joe Lunardi

Lunardi projects to Tennessee to serve as the No. 3 seed in the South region and to take on No. 14 Princeton in the first round. Baylor is projected as the No. 1 seed in the South and No. 5 Alabama serves as the only other SEC team in the region. According to Lunardi's bracket, if Tennessee gets past Princeton, they would take on either No. 6 Iowa or No. 11 Davidson.

The Vols' first couple of games are projected to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Lunardi's entire 2022 NCAA Tournament Bracketology, including other SEC teams such as Auburn, Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU, can be seen here.

CBS Sports– Jerry Palm

Palm projects the Vols to also be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the South region, playing the opening matchups in Pittsburgh.

However, Palm sees Tennessee taking on No. 14 Vermont in the first round with No. 6 and No. 11 Memphis on the other side. Texas and Memphis would serve as highly intriguing second-round opponents for Tennessee in their own ways. The Longhorns defeated Tennessee earlier this season in Austin, and Memphis infamously had to cancel their scheduled regular-season matchup against the Volunteers in December due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the program.

Texas, Vols' head coach Rick Barnes' former stomping grounds, has never played against UT in March, and Memphis only did it once in 1990. So, the magnitude of each game would be even more significant given the absence of postseason chapters.

In addition to Lunardi, Palm projects No. 5 Alabama to be the other SEC team in the South. However, Arizona serves as Palm's No. 1 seed in the South. The Vols defeated current No. 2 (then No. 6) Arizona back in December.

Palm's entire bracket as of March 8, featuring other SEC schools such as Auburn, Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU can be found here.

NCAA.com– Andy Katz

College basketball correspondent for the NCAA and analyst for the Big Ten Network, Andy Katz, agrees with Lunardi and Palm that the Vols will likely serve as a No. 3 seed in the South region.

Like the other two experts, Katz figures Alabama to be the other SEC team in the region with Tennessee, and Katz agrees with Lunardi by dubbing Baylor as the No. 1 seed of the South.

In agreement with Lunardi, Katz also has the Vols facing Princeton in the first round with No. 6 Iowa and No. 11 Davidson on the other side.

Katz's entire bracket includes Auburn, Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU as other SEC teams in the Top-68. Take a closer look at his bracket here.

Sports Illustrated– Kevin Sweeney

Sweeney makes it a clean sweep regarding which region the Vols are projected to be in, as SI's Sweeney sees Tennessee in the South, but as the No. 2 seed.

According to Sweeney, the Vols will take on No. 15 Long Beach State in the first round with No. 7 Boise State and No. 10 Memphis on the other side. As mentioned above, Memphis would present a highly interesting second-round opponent for Tennessee, given the debacle in Nashville this past December.

Unlike the other experts, Sweeney sees the Vols as the lone SEC team in the South region, but he includes the expected other six SEC schools in other bracket regions.

Sweeney's Bracketology as of March 8 can be seen here.

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Now, let's take a look at the Vols' potential first-round opponents, per the experts:

Potential First-Round Opponents:

Princeton (Katz, Lunardi) –

Conference: Ivy League

Record: 22-5 (12-2 conference)

Head coach: Mitch Henderson (2011-present)

Key Wins:

-Defeated Oregon State 81-80 on November 21 in Oregon

-Defeated South Carolina 66-62 in first round of Asheville Championship

(Full 2021-2022 season schedule: here)

Key Players:

-G Jaelin Llewellyn (Sr.): 15.4 PPG (co-team-high), 4.1 RPG, 31.9 MPG (team-high)

-F Tosan Evbuomwan (Jr.): 15.4 PPG (co-team-high), 6.3 RPG, 124 assists (team-high), 36 steals (team-high), leads team with 60 offensive rebounds, .532 FG % (best among starters)

-G Ethan Wright (Sr.): 14.7 PPG, 7 RPG (team-high), 40.1 3-PT FG %, eight blocks (co-team-high), leads team in minutes (856; 31.7 MPG), 162 defensive rebounds

-F Drew Friberg (Sr.): Leads starters with a 40.7 3-PT FG % (70-172)

-G Matt Alloco (Jr.): Team-high 44.4 3 Pt FG%,

NCAA Tournament History:

-25 appearances

-5 Sweet Sixteen appearances

-1 Final Four appearance (1965)

-Overall record of 13-29 in the tournament

-1 NIT Championship in 1975

History Against Tennessee:

-The lone meeting between the two teams was on December 28 in 1959. The Vols won 79-71 in Knoxville.

Vermont (Palm) –

Conference: American East

Record: 26-5 (17-1 Am. East; first place in conference)

Head coach: John Becker (2011-present)

Key Wins:

-Defeated Northern Iowa (1st in MVC) 71-57 in November

-Swept UMBC (2nd place team in Am. East)

-Swept Stony Brook and New Hampshire (3rd and 4th place teams in Am. East)

-Defeated Appalachian St. 65-63 in late November

**Lost to only ranked team: No. 21 Maryland (68-57 in early November)**

(Full 2021-2022 schedule: here)

Key Players:

-F Ryan Davis (Sr.): Team-highs in: PPG (17.1), Blocks (23), FG % (58.2), offensive rebounds (37)

-G Ben Shungu (Gr.): Team-highs in: 3 PT FG % (42.8; 59-138), Steals (36), MPG (30.4)

-F Isaiah Powell (Sr.): Leads team in RPG (6.3)

NCAA Tournament History:

-Seven Tournament appearances (2-7 total record)

-Defeated No. 4 Syracuse in 2005 Tournament as a 13-seed.

-Best finish: Second round (2005)

History Against Tennessee:

-The Vols are 2-0 against Vermont all-time

-Two meetings:

--December 31 1974 (Vols 115, VT 66) *in Knoxville

--December 8 1984 (Vols 85, VT 48) *in Knoxville

Long Beach State (Sweeney) –

Conference: Big West

Record: 18-11 (12-3 Conf.)

Head coach: Dan Monson (2007-present)

Key Wins:

-Defeated Wright State 85-76 in late November in the Naples Invitational

-Defeated UC Irvine 73-67 in the Big West Game of the Week on January 22 in Long Beach

(Full 2021-2022 schedule: here)

Key Players:

-G Joel Murray (Jr.): Team-highs in: PPG (16.2), Assists (83), FT % (86.1), Steals (46)

-F Traore Aboubacar (Fr.): Team-highs in: FG % (61.7; 100-162), RPG (8.2), Blocks (41)

--Also scores 8.5 PPG and averages 23.5 MPG

-G Colin Slater (Sr.): Leads team in 3 PT FG % (39.4; 63-160) and MPG (32.2)

NCAA Tournament History:

-Six Tournament appearances

-1-7 overall record

-1 Sweet Sixteen Appearance (1970)

-Last appeared in the NCAAT in 2012. They lost in the Round of 64 to New Mexico.

History Against Tennessee:

-Tennessee's lone meeting with Long Beach State came on March 16, 2007, in the NCAA Tournament

-UT won 121-86 in the Round of 64 as a 5-seed.

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