University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Vols Ranked Eighth in Both Polls
January 27, 2025 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball is eighth in the country in each major poll this week.
Tennessee (17-3, 4-3 SEC) dropped two places in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and fell one position in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
This is the 10th straight week the Volunteers are in the top eight on both outlets' lists. The 10-week AP top-10 streak is the sixth-longest in program history. Of the six all-time double-digit streaks, four are within the last seven years under the direction of head coach Rick Barnes.
Tennessee is listed in the AP Poll for the 72nd week in a row, a streak that spans four campaigns and dates to the 2021-22 preseason poll. That mark is 35 above the prior program best and is the third-longest active mark in the nation, trailing just Houston (98) and Kansas (77). No other school is at even 55-plus, while the closest SEC team, Kentucky (34), has the eighth-best active ledger and is 38 back of Tennessee.
Additionally, this is the 46th time in the last 49 releases in which the Volunteers are featured in the AP top 15, dating to Nov. 28, 2022. They are among the top 10 teams in the AP Poll for the 68th time in Barnes' tenure.
Tennessee went 1-1 in its two outings last week, both of which came against top-15 opponents. First, it turned in a wire-to-wire victory, 68-56, Tuesday night versus No. 14 Mississippi State at Food City, with fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier's 23 points leading the way. It then dropped a tight 53-51 road decision Saturday at top-ranked Auburn, with senior guard Zakai Zeigler scoring a team-high 14 points in an affair his team led by four with under two minutes to go.
The Volunteers collected 1,149 points in this week's AP Poll, just 21 shy of seventh-place Michigan State and 81 in front of ninth-place Marquette. They tallied 564 points in the Coaches Poll, 19 behind the Spartans and 28 in front of the Golden Eagles.
Thirteen of the SEC's 16 teams are at least receiving votes in a poll, with 10 ranked in at least one and nine listed in both. The Volunteers are joined by top-ranked Auburn, fourth-ranked Alabama, No. 5/6 Florida, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13/15 Texas A&M, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 20/21 Missouri and No. 23/24 Ole Miss in both polls, while Vanderbilt is No. 24 in the AP Poll. The Commodores and Georgia garnered votes in the Coaches Poll balloting, while Oklahoma and Texas did so in the AP Poll voting.
Tennessee resumes competition Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts No. 12 Kentucky, live on ESPN from Food City Center.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Tennessee (17-3, 4-3 SEC) dropped two places in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and fell one position in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
This is the 10th straight week the Volunteers are in the top eight on both outlets' lists. The 10-week AP top-10 streak is the sixth-longest in program history. Of the six all-time double-digit streaks, four are within the last seven years under the direction of head coach Rick Barnes.
Tennessee is listed in the AP Poll for the 72nd week in a row, a streak that spans four campaigns and dates to the 2021-22 preseason poll. That mark is 35 above the prior program best and is the third-longest active mark in the nation, trailing just Houston (98) and Kansas (77). No other school is at even 55-plus, while the closest SEC team, Kentucky (34), has the eighth-best active ledger and is 38 back of Tennessee.
Additionally, this is the 46th time in the last 49 releases in which the Volunteers are featured in the AP top 15, dating to Nov. 28, 2022. They are among the top 10 teams in the AP Poll for the 68th time in Barnes' tenure.
Tennessee went 1-1 in its two outings last week, both of which came against top-15 opponents. First, it turned in a wire-to-wire victory, 68-56, Tuesday night versus No. 14 Mississippi State at Food City, with fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier's 23 points leading the way. It then dropped a tight 53-51 road decision Saturday at top-ranked Auburn, with senior guard Zakai Zeigler scoring a team-high 14 points in an affair his team led by four with under two minutes to go.
The Volunteers collected 1,149 points in this week's AP Poll, just 21 shy of seventh-place Michigan State and 81 in front of ninth-place Marquette. They tallied 564 points in the Coaches Poll, 19 behind the Spartans and 28 in front of the Golden Eagles.
Thirteen of the SEC's 16 teams are at least receiving votes in a poll, with 10 ranked in at least one and nine listed in both. The Volunteers are joined by top-ranked Auburn, fourth-ranked Alabama, No. 5/6 Florida, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13/15 Texas A&M, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 20/21 Missouri and No. 23/24 Ole Miss in both polls, while Vanderbilt is No. 24 in the AP Poll. The Commodores and Georgia garnered votes in the Coaches Poll balloting, while Oklahoma and Texas did so in the AP Poll voting.
Tennessee resumes competition Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts No. 12 Kentucky, live on ESPN from Food City Center.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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