This offseason has been crazy in terms of roster turnover. Every SEC team has dealt with the effects of the transfer portal.

But, now that rosters are slowly beginning to take shape ahead of the 2021-22 season, it’s time to start making some projections!

On Tuesday, ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi released his first 2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology projections. As you can see below, he has 7 SEC teams making the field of 68, 1 team just barely missing out and Alabama as a No. 1 seed:

  • Alabama — No. 1 seed (East)
  • Arkansas — No. 3 seed (West)
  • Tennessee — No. 4 seed (South)
  • Kentucky — No. 5 seed (Midwest)
  • Auburn — No. 8 seed (West)
  • Mississippi State — No. 9 seed (East)
  • Florida — No. 10 seed (Midwest)
  • LSU — Next 4 Out

This next NCAA Tournament figures to be held in different cities, unlike this past tournament, which was held entirely in the Indianapolis area. The East bracket will be in Philadelphia, the West in San Francisco, the Midwest in Chicago and the South in San Antonio.

How many teams will the SEC get in the tournament this coming year? We’ll find out soon enough! The league figures to be very intriguing in 2021-22 with all the new faces around the conference. How quickly teams get comfortable with one another will be critical.