Insider Joe Lunardi claims SEC conference championship could sway race for No. 1 seed ahead of Selection Sunday

NCAA Basketball: Florida at Tennessee - Source: Imagn

According to college basketball expert Joe Lunardi, the SEC Conference Championship game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators on Sunday could have a big effect on the NCAA Tournament seeding.

Joe Lunardi initially claimed that the Vols would not be able to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He has reportedly had a change of heart, claiming that Rick Barnes’ side could surpass Gators in the seeding based on a head-to-head, if they secure the SEC Tournament championship title.

“Tennessee could surpass Florida for the last 1-seed,” Joe Lunardi wrote in his ESPN Bracketology update on Sunday morning.

However, he expressed doubts over the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s willingness to affect the final seedings based on that.

Another college basketball expert, Jerry Palm, also took the line of thought in his piece for CBS Sports on Sunday.

ESPN’s latest Bracketology moved the Volunteers to No. 2 in the seedings, moving ahead of Alabama. They were also placed in the Midwest Region, switching spots with Alabama, who shifted to the East.

If this setup is intact, Tennessee will play at Lexington on the opening weekend.

On Saturday night, Joe Lunardi updated his NCAA Tournament bracket projections, placing Florida as the final No. 1 seed, and competing in the West Region.

He placed Auburn as No. 1 in the seeding, leading the South Region. Meanwhile, Houston sit atop the Midwest, and Duke take the top spot in the East as per him.

Tennessee Vols take on Florida Gators for SEC Tournament title

No. 4 seed Tennessee (27-6) will take on No. 2-seed Florida (29-4) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday.

It will be the third matchup between both teams this season, with one win each for both sides in the previous meetings. The Gators won 73-43, on Jan. 7 in Gainesville, Florida, while the Vols triumphed 64-44 on Feb. 1 at Food City Center.

However, Tennessee lead in the all-time series 82-60, and Barnes is 10-4 against the Gators as the Vols’ head coach.

The tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. E.T on Sunday, with the NCAA Tournament’s 68-team bracket seeding going down at 6 p.m. ET on the same day.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

Know More

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Siddharth Sikdar