I’m tired of seeing AZ as 1 seed .

[TrumpedUpVol]

I’m sure it’s been discussed but wouldn’t our preference be Memphis instead of Charlotte? Yes, Charlotte is closer to Knoxville, but we will have a bigger presence in Memphis by far I think. And the team is going to fly anyway I assume. Everywhere I’ve seen has us in Charlotte.

Hard to say what Barnes and the squad would prefer, but the NCAA has spoken to The Athletic about remaining consistent in terms of "bracketing principles" and having Tennessee in Charlotte due to mileage.

I agree, it makes absolutely zero sense to play in another state when you're a one/two seed but it is what it is.

 

[VolArmy74]

Faulty logic. You are saying that they make the elite 8 bc of their seeding. They make the elite 8 at a higher rate bc they are the better teams on average. You might quiblle over the overall tournament 4 vs 5 top teams. But the overall 1, 2, and 3 tourney seed are better then the 6, 7,8

They get an easier path. In a tournament setting, getting to play the worst team each round is an incredible advantage.

 

[VolArmy74]

Palm moved us up to the #1 seed line.

 

[BallerVolFan]

We have approximately a 60% chance to be a 1-seed according to TeamRankings. Arizona is sitting at 32%. Doesn’t seem to be the popular opinion overall at the moment.

 

[AthensVol2007]

They’re a good team, but taking a closer look at their schedule, it looks like their best wins are at Duke and against Wisconsin. Their league is also waaaaaaaaaay weaker than the SEC. I’m actually a little underwhelmed by their resume—maybe I’m crazy.

They’ve played a tougher non-conference SOS than us on paper and fared pretty well. Wins vs Duke, Wisky and Bama and close losses to Purdue and FAU. The next two games their schedule will take a hit playing two 100+ RPI/NET teams vs who we have left.

 

[wmcovol]

Is Arizona even gonna win their league? Wash St was ahead of them last I heard.

Really don’t care if they’re seeded 4th 1 or first 2. Same bracket.

 

[Rockytop10nessee]

What is considered Q1 games? Top 25?

It changes based on if it’s home game, neutral site, or away game. I think it’s top25, top 50, and top 75 for home, neutral, and away games. Don’t quote me.

 

[Rockytop10nessee]

Agree. We went to Bama and won in hostile environment, and going into SC arena. We win that game, and close out w/ KY, we'll get a 1 seed. I could see us losing @ SC, but could also see us clamping down. SC plays good D and scraps, much like Vols. Don't think Dalton will have two "off games" in a row, but really good to see JJJ and Vescovi heating up. JJJ always seems to play well at his home state SC. We're going to need solid all around effort to win, and think we will...if the refs don't decide to manipulate the game.

I love that an off game is still scoring in the teens. That’s a good game for almost everyone else in the nation… we’re lucky to have found DK

 

[cncchris33]

Is Arizona even gonna win their league? Wash St was ahead of them last I heard.

Really don’t care if they’re seeded 4th 1 or first 2. Same bracket.

They are a game ahead of WSU despite being swept by them. WSU dropped a game to Arizona St. in their next game after beating Arizona for the second time.

 

[Rockytop10nessee]

How much easier would a 1 seed in that region be than a 2 Seed. Not much.
Now if AZ gets the 1 seed then Tennessee will move to one of the other regions as a 2 seed. Much tougher.
If TN is the 1 seed out West then AZ is the 2 seed.
NC also becomes the crap in the fan.

My thought would be TN easily is a 1 Seed in the West and AZ the two. The committee needs to explain themselves better.

Don't expect a whole lot of help from the committee. As the SEC Rep is the AL AD. What's more, Several teams have their schools best interest. This is a flawed system as criteria that they use changes every year to meet the Committees selection so they will not be held accountable.

Members:

CHARLES MCCLELLAND (2024) – SWAC Commissioner (Chairperson)

JAMIE POLLARD (2024) – Iowa State Athletic Director

SCOTT BARNES (2024) – Oregon State Athletic Director

BUBBA CUNNINGHAM (2025) – North Carolina Athletic Director (Vice-Chairperson)

MARK COYLE (2026) – Minnesota Athletic Director

GREG BYRNE (2026) – Alabama Athletic Director

KEITH GILL (2026) – Sun Belt Commissioner

BARRY COLLIER (2026) – Butler Athletic Director

MARTIN NEWTON (2027) – Samford Athletic Director

TOM WISTRCILL (2027) – Big Sky Commissioner

ARTHUR JOHNSON (2028) – Temple Athletic Director

RENEE BAUMGARTNER (2028) – Santa Clara Athletic Director

Ironically, Greg Byrne would be our guy. Which sounds bad but actually isn’t. Hell fight for our cause. He’s an honest person, and it benefits Bama on top of that.

 

[hUTch2002]

It's been discussed ad nauseum, but being a #1 seed is a distinct advantage vs a #2 seed.

#1s have a roughly 70 percent chance to make the elite 8. #2s drop all the way to 45% to reach it.

What do those percentages look like over the last 10 tournaments. I’m sure 1s still have an advantage but I’d guess it’s a much smaller one as parity is far different now than in the 80s and 90s.

 

[bleedrng]

They are 8-3 in Q1 games. Only Purdue and UCONN have a better record in Q1 games. That’s a big reason why they are viewed favorably by some.

I think there is a solid argument for either team right now. But if UT goes 2-0 to finish, I think it starts to heavily favor UT because Arizona has no more resume building games.

Read they haven't played a ranked team in 2024. At least that's what I've seen. SEC, top to bottom, arguably the best conference. PAC10....seems awfully weak.

 

[hUTch2002]

Palm moved us up to the #1 seed line.

Based on his bracket I’d rather have the 2 seed based on the second round game. Give me the Nevada/UVA winner over the FAU/Texas winner. Of course we know the bracket won’t be exactly that but if it was…the 2 seed has a better second round game. Now you go beyond that and the 1 looks better. Iowa St scares the crap out of me. Super athletic and very tough D. That’s where I think the 1 seed really gains value.

 

[VolCalls]

Read they haven't played a ranked team in 2024. At least that's what I've seen. SEC, top to bottom, arguably the best conference. PAC10....seems awfully weak.

You read wrong. They’ve played Wash State twice in 2024. They also played six non-conf games vs ranked teams prior to January 1.

Yes, the SEC is a much stronger league, but it doesn’t change the fact Arizona is 8-3 in Quad 1 games.

For the record, I think we deserve a #1 seed over them if we can at least split our last two games, but don’t discredit Arizona’s resume. They are worthy of being in the discussion.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Tennessee has 6 losses. That usually doesn't translate to a #1 seed. Just shows that this is a wide open year.

Arizona also had 6 losses. So does UNC. So does Duke. Guess there will only be 3 1-seeds this year.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

It’s still fairly mind-boggling that there is a large portion of this board that does not want to be a 1-seed. Just feels so illogical to me. We will play our first 2 games in Charlotte or Memphis regardless.

 

[VolArmy74]

What do those percentages look like over the last 10 tournaments. I’m sure 1s still have an advantage but I’d guess it’s a much smaller one as parity is far different now than in the 80s and 90s.

Since 2012
15 final four slots for #1 seeds.
7 for #2 seeds.
3 for #3 seeds.
4 for #4 seeds.
3 for #5 seeds
0 for 6 seeds.
2 or less from 7-11 seeds.

So since 2012 (with no 2020 tournament) #1 seeds have made the FF more than seeds 2,3 and 4 combined.

Since seeding started in 1979, the only seeds that are historical outliers are #8 seeds and #11 seeds. #8 seeds have made the FF more often than 6 or 7 seeds. #11 seeds have made it more than #7, 9, and 10 seeds.

 

[Volfan1000]

View attachment 624485


I know we take Lunardi with a grain of salt, but it seems he believes Arizona has to lose 1 for us to pass them, no matter if we win out or not.

I think that the Wildcats have a road swing to USC and UCLA this week so there is a good possibility for a loss and if UT can go 2-0 this week, I think we get a 1 seed.

 

[PickleRickBarnes]

If a #1 seed sends us west, I would just as soon be a #2. Other than maybe a little prestige, being a #1 seed is not a great advantage over being #2.

What?

1 seeds make the FF at a 40% clip while 2 seeds make it at 20% clip

It might be marginal but 1 seeds on average play 6 easier teams than 2 seeds

Give me the 1 seed

 

[hUTch2002]

Since 2012
15 final four slots for #1 seeds.
7 for #2 seeds.
3 for #3 seeds.
4 for #4 seeds.
3 for #5 seeds
0 for 6 seeds.
2 or less from 7-11 seeds.

So since 2012 (with no 2020 tournament) #1 seeds have made the FF more than seeds 2,3 and 4 combined.

Since seeding started in 1979, the only seeds that are historical outliers are #8 seeds and #11 seeds. #8 seeds have made the FF more often than 6 or 7 seeds. #11 seeds have made it more than #7, 9, and 10 seeds.

I looked at the last 10 tournaments. 27.5% of the Elite 8 spots went to 1 seeds while 20% went to 2 seeds. Decent disparity but closer than the percentages you had for all years (you had 70% for 1s and 45% for 2s to the Elite 8). However, as you noted in the last 11 tournaments, 1 seeds are twice as likely to make a Final 4. The last 10 tournaments had 14 1 seeds in the F4 and 7 2 seeds. What’s really crazy is if you just look at the last 6 tournaments then the 2 seeds performed worse with only 16.67% of the Elite 8 spots going to 2 seeds while 25% of the spots went to 1 seeds and that includes 2 historically low years for 1 seeds with only 1 making the Elite 8 over the last 2 years. I bet 1s bounce back big this year if history is a good indicator. If 1 seeds yet again flub out early then we’ve entered a new level of parity in college basketball. My guess is it will be good to be a 1 seed as I bet 3 make the Elite 8.

 

[VolArmy74]

1s also have a winning record against all other seed groups. Oddly, the second worst winning % for 1s is vs 11 seeds. They actually have more losses to 11s than 2 seeds do.

The 1 seed record vs 16, 8/9, 4/5, aka the most common path to E8 is 84% win percentage.

The 2 seed vs 3/6, 7/10, 15 is only a 68% winning percentage.

It's just harder to win vs better teams and every advantage helps. It shows up in the stats over the long haul. There's going to be outlier years but you should always want a #1 seed.

 

[volbound1700]

It’s still fairly mind-boggling that there is a large portion of this board that does not want to be a 1-seed. Just feels so illogical to me. We will play our first 2 games in Charlotte or Memphis regardless.

It would be nice to be a #1 seed but I see the argument. If we win out, I think we have a great shot but we got to win out first.

I guess it is "battered" Vol syndrome but I have gotten really hyped out our Basketball teams in the past only to see them have a very cold shooting game and lose ahead of schedule. This is the same team that A&M just blew out, no issue, a month ago on the road.

If we win at South Carolina and then beat Kentucky, I think we should pass Arizona and will have the argument.

 

[ColinS]

Arizona is still ahead on KenPom, Net, and still has a better record against Quad 1. If we win these last two that all changes.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Believe me on this. Even in TENN wins last two AND loses in only in SEC tourney final, they will not be a 1 seed over AZ. And did anyone see the report that the Vols will play UNC in Charlotte no matter where they are seeded? Im not afraid of Carolina even tho they smoked us in CHill with an almost flawless shooting night, but that Charlotte locale seems like an away game.

Holy incorrect info Batman

 

[rocketskates]

VOLS will be a 1 if they win out in reg season

Absolutely. Totally in the drivers seat right now.