Tennessee basketball‘s odds of being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament improved Saturday after winning 79-76 over projected No. 1 seed Alabama at Food City Center.
If the Vols ultimately earn a No. 1 seed, Jahmai Mashack’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer will be the shot that did it.
Tennessee (24-5, 10-5 SEC) is likely competing with Alabama and Houston for the last two No. 1 seeds behind likely locks Auburn and Duke. This Alabama game was perhaps the Vols’ last chance for a huge win in that competition, aside from maybe a deep SEC Tournament run.
It continues a surge by UT in the stretch run of the regular season. A week ago, the Vols beat Texas A&M for their second top-10 win. This was their third top-10 win in the last eight games.
Tennessee finishes the regular season at Ole Miss on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and against South Carolina on March 8 (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Food City Center.
Ole Miss should make the NCAA tournament, so a road win over the Rebels would help UT’s resume. But South Carolina is the SEC’s last-place team. The Vols can’t afford to lose either.
Entering Saturday’s game, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi indicated that Tennessee, Alabama and Houston are the teams who still could be No. 1 seeds in those final two spots.
Tennessee basketball’s NCAA Tournament résumé
The Vols have a 10-5 record in Quad 1 games. All five of Tennessee’s losses were Quad 1 games.
Tennessee notched three Quad 1 wins with its road victories at Louisville and Illinois, as well as a neutral site win against Baylor in the Baha Mar Championship. Its home victories over Mississippi State, Florida, Missouri and Alabama were Quad 1 wins. Its road wins at Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M also were Quad 1 wins.
UT is 4-0 in Quad 2 games with a road win at LSU and home wins against Arkansas, Georgia and Vanderbilt.
The Vols are 4-0 in Quad 3 games and 6-0 in Quad 4 games.
Tennessee basketball’s NCAA tournament history under Rick Barnes
The Vols have reached six consecutive NCAA tournaments, a streak started in coach Rick Barnes’ third year in the 2017-18 season. Before he took over the program, UT hadn’t been to the tournament since 2014.
UT has 26 NCAA tournament appearances in program history. It has reached two Elite Eights and has never been to a Final Four. The Vols reached the program’s second Elite Eight in 2024.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Where Tennessee basketball’s No. 1 seed hopes stand after beating Alabama
