Conference basketball tournaments speak volumes and impact the decisions by the NCAA Tournament selection committee — whether for the good or bad.
No. 5 Tennessee basketball (24-7, 14-4 SEC) experienced the latter on Friday after its loss to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament. The Vols, who entered the day with the potential of earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they won the SEC Tournament, saw their March Madness seeding projection take a hit.
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The regular-season champions and No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament did not advance past the quarterfinal round, its first game of the tournament. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs improved their chances of dancing by removing themselves from the bubble as one of the “last four bye” in the field of 68 with the win.
Mississippi State caused SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht to have an uncharacteristically bad shooting game: The 6-foot-6 forward was held to 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field, just the ninth time this season that he was held to fewer than 15 points in a game.
Considering the significance of the upset, here’s a look at how the loss to Mississippi State has impacted the Vols’ seeding in the NCAA Tournament:
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Tennessee March Madness seeding projections: Where do Vols fall?
Tennessee — entering the day with little to no room for error — has in all likelihood fallen out of contention for a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
Though the Vols’ loss to the Bulldog took them out of potentially being tabbed as a top-four seed, it didn’t drastically change their expected seeding projection. Lunardi kept Tennessee as a 2 seed, but dropped it to the No. 6 overall seed — one spot lower than they were in his projection this morning.
Tennessee will now wait to learn its official seeding on Selection Sunday during the NCAA Tournament selection show. The Vols are 6-5 in five trips to the NCAA Tournament under Rick Barnes, making it as far as the Sweet 16 twice.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee basktball March Madness seeding: Will Vols drop after MSU loss?
