ESPN’s Joe Lunardi moves Tennessee back to a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament Bracketology

Tennessee Basketball’s shorthanded, bounce-back 64-44 win over Florida on Saturday, paired with three straight losses by Iowa State, has the Vols back as a No. 1 seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology update from Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi on Monday, before Iowa State’s 69-52 loss at Kansas Monday night, moved Tennessee back up to the No. 1-seed line as the No. 4 overall seed in his 68-team NCAA Tournament projection.

The Vols had dropped to a No. 2 seed after losing three of four games over the previous two weeks.

The No. 1 seeds were Auburn, Alabama, Duke and Tennessee, in that order. The No. 2 seeds were Iowa State, Florida, Purdue and Houston. The No. 3s were Marquette, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Kansas and the No. 4s were Michigan State, Wisconsin, Memphis and Texas Tech.

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Missouri

Tennessee (18-4, 5-4 SEC), which moved up to No. 4 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll on Monday, hosts No. 15 Missouri (17-4, 6-2) on Wednesday (7 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network).

The Vols have made six straight NCAA Tournaments under Rick Barnes, seeded No. 5 or higher in all six.

Tennessee was a No. 2 seed a year ago, advancing to the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history before falling to No. 1 Purdue. There was another No. 2 seed in 2019, with the Vols losing to No. 3 Purdue in overtime in the Sweet 16.

In 2023 Tennessee went to the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed, beating No. 13-seed Louisiana in the first round and No. 5 Duke in the second round. The Vols lost 62-55 to No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the third round.

Tennessee was a No. 3 in 2022, beating Longwood in the first round before being upset by No. 11-seed Michigan in the second round. The Vols were also a No. 3 in 2018, beating Wright State before losing to No. 11-seed Loyola-Chicago.

Tennessee ranked No. 4 in NET, KenPom.com

Tennessee is still ranked No. 4 in the NET, with a 5-4 record in Quad 1 games and, 3-0 records in Quad 2 and Quad 3 and a 7-0 record in Quad 4.

Auburn is No. 1 in the NET, Duke is No. 2 and Houston is No. 3.

The Vols moved up two spots in the KenPom.com ratings after the win over Florida, going from No. 6 overall to No. 4. They went back up to No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 85.5 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 38 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 116.3 points per 100 possessions.

Tennessee’s next three games, and seven of the remaining nine games left on the regular-season schedule, are Quad 1 games. Vanderbilt at home on February 15 is a Quad 2 game and the home game against South Carolina on March 8 is a Quad 3 game.

The five Quad 1 wins for the Vols are Louisville, Baylor, Illinois, Texas and Florida.

No. 4 Tennessee will have Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr. available against No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday night for the 7 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: SEC Network) at Food City Center. Neither player was listed on the SEC Injury Report Tuesday night.

Trent Burns was the only player listed as out for Missouri.

Both Zeigler and Milicic missed the 64-44 win over No. 6 Florida on Saturday in Knoxville. Zeigler was sidelined by the right knee injury he suffered late in the first half of the 78-73 loss to Kentucky last Tuesday and Milicic was out due to an illness.

Zeigler was downgraded from questionable Friday night to out Saturday morning. Milicic, who was listed as probable on the initial Florida injury report, was made available early Saturday, but was ruled out during pregame warmups

Tennessee had just seven scholarship players available vs. Florida

Head coach Rick Barnes said during The Vol Network’s ‘Vol Calls’ on Monday night that both players had returned to practice Monday afternoon.

“Igor practiced today,” Barnes said. “‘Z’, a little bit in and out, but I do think he’ll be ready.”

Assistant coach Gregg Polinsky added Tuesday that both players were on track to return for Tennessee (18-4, 5-4 SEC) against Missouri (17-4, 6-2).

“They both practiced yesterday in somewhat limited amounts,” Polinksy said before Tuesday’s practice at Food City Center. “But as always our performance (staff) and Chad (Newman) have done a heck of a job, and those guys (the players) getting themselves back.”

Zeigler was injured with 2:17 left in the first half against Kentucky, but retuned to the game to start the second half and played all 20 minutes after halftime. He didn’t practice Thursday or Friday, though.

“I was a little banged up and it was bothering me,” Zeigler said Sunday night during an appearance on The Locker Room, “had some number stuff that was going on with the strength coach that was a little off. And I was in some pain, but I’ll be back next game.”

Zakai Zeigler on Sunday: ‘I’m good. I’ll be back next game’

Zeigler and Milicic combine to average 22.7 points, 11.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. Their absence on Saturday left Tennessee with just seven scholarship players available against Florida.

The Vols started the season with 11 scholarship players out of a possible 13. Since then they have lost sophomore wing Cameron Carr to a midseason transfer to Baylor and sophomore forward JP Estrella, who had season-ending foot surgery in late November.

Zeigler announced his own return for the Missouri game during his TV appearance Sunday night.

“I’m good,” Zeigler said on The Locker Room. “I’ll be back next game. Simple as that.”