Losses in three of four games has Tennessee slipping to the No. 3 seed in the latest USA TODAY Sports edition of Bracketology.
The Volunteers lost two in a row, against Auburn and Kentucky, by a combined seven points last week. Prior to that, they fell to Vanderbilt on Jan. 18 before rebounding to beat Mississippi State.
One the plus side, Tennessee is the highest-rated No. 3 seed, ahead of Purdue, Kansas and Kentucky. The Volunteers could move back up the rankings with a win on Saturday against Florida. The Gators haven’t played since demolishing Georgia last weekend.
One team moving up the bracket is Arizona. The Wildcats don’t have the best overall profile, with a 4-6 mark against Quad 1 competition and a 3-5 record away from home. But they’ve started to trend in the right direction in Big 12 play, including this week’s overtime win against Iowa State courtesy of a near-halfcourt heave at the buzzer of regulation to tie the game.
The No. 1 line remains the same despite the Cyclones’ loss: Auburn, Duke, Alabama and Iowa State.
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Bracketology: NCAA Tournament field projection
Last four in
North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio State, Central Florida.
First four out
Arizona State, Brigham Young, Wake Forest, Virginia Commonwealth.
NCAA Tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (13), Big Ten (9), Big 12 (8), ACC (5), Big East (4), Mountain West (3), West Coast (2).