Auburn is projected to be the No. 1 overall seed when the 68-team field for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is revealed Sunday night.
In Saturday afternoon’s first Southeastern Conference tournament semifinal inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, the Tennessee Volunteers took down that top seed.
Using a 25-of-27 showing at the free-throw line, Tennessee defeated the Tigers 70-65 to advance to Sunday’s tournament title game (1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN) against Florida. The Gators overwhelmed Alabama 104-82 in the second semifinal.
At stake for the Vols is a second league tournament title in four years, as well as a final opportunity to state their case for an NCAA tournament 1 seed. Tennessee and Florida split their two regular-season meetings, with the Gators winning by 30 in Gainesville and the Vols by 20 in Knoxville.
“We’ve seen teams catch lightning in a bottle this time of year,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said in a news conference. “There is no doubt in my mind Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama and go down the list — they all came here with the idea to win this tournament. I don’t think there is any question. We all want to win a championship. Championships set you apart.