Tennessee didn’t get a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday, but most of Big Orange Nation probably has little issue with the Vols’ draw.

After losing 84-64 to Auburn in the SEC Tournament Championship, Tennessee (29-5) was awarded the No. 2 seed in the South. Virginia is the No. 1 seed in the South.

The Vols, a two-seed for the third time in program history, will play the 15-seeded Colgate Raiders (24-10) in Columbus, OH on Friday. Should Tennessee advance, it would play the winner of No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 10 Iowa on Sunday.

The Vols had a chance to earn a top seed Sunday, but a 20-point loss to the Tigers sealed their draw. Still, Tennessee’s veteran team is confident it can bounce-back quickly and make a run toward its first Final Four in school history.

“We play for the big one,” two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams said.

“That's how you got to think of it. It definitely hurts right now. You definitely have to recollect your emotions, pick your heads up, because you really wanted this one pretty badly. But the biggest thing is we practice the entire year for the big one. We're coming into the tournament where we put ourselves in a good position this year. Credit to the team. We just got to do a good job of understanding that it's not over, and it will never be over.”

Overall, Tennessee got a nice draw. Colgate can shoot 3-pointers but the Raiders don’t have the bodies to defend Willams or Admiral Schofield. Facing Cincy in Columbus is certainly a pitfall, but should UT advance, it would play the Regional in Louisville, where Vol fans could flock en masse to the Yum! Center.

Other interesting teams on Tennessee’s side of the bracket include a pair of squads, who like Auburn, can fire up 3s at rapid rates: No. 3 seed Purdue and No. 6 seed Villanova, the defending national champs.