Vols’ Hope For A 1-Seed May Still Be Alive In Nashville

By Cody McClure

Have you given up on our Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team’s chance for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?

Not gonna lie. I pretty much had, too. But there may still be hope.

The only problem is… it’s all but certainly going to require the boys taking down Auburn and Bruce Pearl on Saturday.

According to VolQuest’s Grant Ramey, bracket guru Joe Lunardi said the NCAA Tournament selection committee will pick 'the SEC (Tournament) survivor' for the final No. 1 seed.

"If it were me, I’d pick whichever of the three advances the furthest in Nashville,” Lunardi said in regards to UT, Florida, and Alabama.

That’s how close it looks to be between the three schools.

As of today, Florida appears to have the sturdiest leg to stand on. But if the Gators were to drop their Friday game, that may not hold.

Same goes for Alabama and Tennessee. Saturday looks to be a likely head-to-head matchup between Florida and Alabama on one side of the bracket with the Vols playing Auburn on the other side (if everything goes chalk, of course).

If Lunardi’s theory is correct, the Tide or Gators could be eliminated for 1-seed consideration on Saturday.

So if the Vols beat Auburn, Sunday’s championship game may determine the final No. 1 seed.

It would be hard to deny whichever team that is after it beat consecutive Final Four-type opponents — whether it be Tennessee, Alabama, or Florida.