KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee men's basketball will be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play Saint Peter's in the first round on Thursday in Charlotte.
The Vols will be in the Midwest region but will play their first and second-round games.
Tennessee earned the two seed after claiming the outright SEC regular season title. They finished the season 24-8 and are coming off back-to-back losses to Kentucky on Senior Day and Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinal.
Saint Peter's went 19-13 this season and got an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic Atheltic Conference Tournament title. In 2022, the Peacocks made it to the Elite Eight as a 15-seed. In the first round that year, they defeated Tennessee's rival, Kentucky. In the first round, the Wildcats were a 2 seed that year.
UT was last an eight seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament where they lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue. In 2008 they were a 2 seed and also lost in the Sweet 16. UT has only one Elite 8 appearance in program history and has never made it to a Final Four, which will be played in Phoenix this year.
The Vols have earned a top-five seed under head coach Rick Barnes every season since 2018 that the NCAA Tournament was held.
They are expected to play at 9:20 p.m. on TNT.
