Heading into the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday, the Tennessee Volunteers and Auburn Tigers had the chance to leave Nashville as the top team in the conference this season.

But for Tennessee, it turns out much more was on the line.

NCAA Tournament selection committee chair Richard Muir revealed that the Vols would have been a No. 1 seed in the 2019 March Madness bracket, which was revealed on Sunday evening, if they had beaten Auburn for the SEC title. The victory would have knocked Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, down to the 2-seed line.

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"Had Tennessee won today, we would have made a switch and put Tennessee on the 1 line because they were playing so well," Muir said. "When you looked at their résumé, they had a head-to-head with Gonzaga, had won that head-to-head. Had they won, I know we would have made a switch. We thought going in that Gonzaga deserved to be on the 1 line. They've done enough work. We know when you watch them, you look at their metrics, that is a quality team and certainly deserving of a 1 seed, and that's where we kept them."

Muir said that the Vols finished ranked as the committee's No. 5 overall team, or in other words, the best No. 2 seed. Tennessee was placed in the South Region, and the group coached by Rick Barnes will open the NCAA Tournament against No. 15 Colgate on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Virginia is the No. 1 seed in the South Region.

Tennessee defeated Mississippi State and Kentucky to reach the SEC Tournament final. However, the Vols lost 84-64 in a lopsided affair with Auburn. The Tigers, a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, also beat Tennessee 84-80 to end the regular season.

Kentucky is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, and the Wildcats were jumped on the 2-seed line by Michigan State. The Spartans rallied to take down arch rival Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament title game. With that win in mind, the committee drew some criticism for the decision to place Michigan State in the East Region with overall No. 1 seed Duke.

"Today we had 12 different brackets with a variety of scenarios," Muir said. "What I will say is that every game across an entire season matters. I think sometimes fans tend to just fixate on the last few games of a conference tournament. We are trying to make sure that we look at the full body of work, which you've heard committee speak before. Michigan State did climb over Kentucky into the No. 6 seed line. The committee didn't feel comfortable moving them above Tennessee, who was No. 5, based on the full season's results."