ATLANTA – When the NCAA tournament selection committee members look at Tennessee’s resume, they’re probably going to collectively shake their heads.
Though regardless of whether the Volunteers beats Arkansas in their first round SEC tournament game tonight at the Georgia Dome, the committee will most likely put the Vols in the field of 68 anyway.
“Tennessee has too many big wins to miss the tournament,” ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said in a conference call Wednesday afternoon. “A loss tonight and they’re going to a 10- or an 11-seed. A win and they just continue to percolate up.
“They’re going to be a team that nobody wants to face because they’re the proverbial club that when they have their ‘A’ game, they’re a Sweet 16-level team. When they’re not a 10, they’re not an eight – they’re like a three, on a scale of one to 10.”
UT’s resume is certainly perplexing. The Vols have eight wins against the top 50 teams in the Ratings Percentage Index and twice beat Belmont, the No. 51 team in those ratings. UT also lost 13 games, went just 8-8 in conference, won just three of their last eight and lost seven times to teams outside the RPI top 50.