Move aside Auburn, there’s a new No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday. Tennessee stunned the conference's top team in the SEC Tournament with a 65-60 win to advance to Sunday’s championship game.
With the win, the Vols all but sealed themselves a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This also closes the door on more SEC bias, as there’s probably room for just two No. 1 seeds. Barring anything crazy, Tennessee should have one of those spots along with Duke and Houston. The final No. 1 seed will come down to whoever joins Tennessee in the SEC Championship game between Alabama and Florida.
The SEC Tournament this year is everything right with March Madness. Sure, we want to see the top teams win, but nothing beats a good ol’ fashioned upset, especially on a team like Auburn. While the Tigers are still a strong team, it’s a costly loss for their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. That loss will probably knock them out of contention for the No. 1 overall seed, opening the door for Duke or Houston to swoop in.
Tennessee earned the right to be one of the four No. 1 seeds, hopefully the committee gets it right.
Joe Lunardi stokes fire, keeping Auburn as No. 1 overall seed in latest Bracketology
Tennessee better hope the selection committee doesn’t use Joe Lunardi’s predictions as their deciding factor when choosing the four No. 1 seeds. Lunardi, who’s been respected in the college basketball world for years now, has it flat wrong this time.
Auburn, while being one of the strongest teams in the country all season, has shown it can be beat, which didn’t always feel like the case. They lost at Texas A&M and then at home to Alabama to end the regular season, and now were bounced out of the SEC Tournament in the semifinals.
One game shouldn’t kill your season, but in Auburn’s case, it shouldn’t also reward them with the No. 1 overall seed. While I do think the No. 1 overall seed probably deserves to be an SEC team, that went out the door with Auburn’s loss.
To keep Tennessee as a No. 2 seed, despite knocking off the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC tournament, is criminal. Maybe the Tigers should still be a No. 1 seed, but if you do make them a No. 1 seed, Tennessee deserves it too.
I’m not sure what else Tennessee has to do to prove it deserves a No. 1 seed. The Vols are now 11-6 in Quad 1 games, with wins over Auburn, Florida and Alabama — all of the other SEC teams currently in the mix for a one seed. I understand why Auburn might still be a No. 1 seed, I just don’t agree with it. Especially with Tennessee already being a No. 2 seed, they’ve earned the right to be acknowledged as one of the top four teams this year.