How Tennessee Basketball's 10-0 start compares to the best starts in program history

Tennessee Basketball’s undefeated start to the season was on life support Saturday at Illinois. Zakai Zeigler had just missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Vols clinging to a 64-63 lead and the Illini were at the foul line at the other end with just 5.7 seconds left and the chance to retake the lead.

But Kasparas Jakucionis missed the first of his two free throws, tied the game on the second and Jordan Gainey went the length of the floor on the inbound that followed, scoring a tough layup as time expired for a 66-64 win to stun a raucous capacity crowd at State Farm Center. 

The win extended No. 1 Tennessee’s perfect start to 10-0, tied for the fourth best start to a season in program history. It matched the 1997-98 team’s 10-0 start and is now just one game behind the 1999-2000 team, which started 11-0.

After the win at Illinois, the Vols return home to host Western Carolina on Tuesday at Food City Center. The non-conference schedule concludes with games against Middle Tennessee State on December 23 and Norfolk State on December 31, before Arkansas comes to Knoxville to start SEC play on January 4. 

Here’s a look at the best starts to a season in Tennessee Men’s Basketball program history and how the current streak compares:

1922-23: 14-0

Tennessee’s 1922-23 team started its 17-game season with 14 straight wins. The victims included Camp Benning, Maryville, Tusculum, Milligan, Georgetown (Ky.), Centre, Transylvania, Centenary and Emory & Henry. The only regular-season loss came at Vanderbilt, 28-25. The season ended with a 23-19 loss to Georgia in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament in Atlanta. 

1915-16: 12-0

The 1915-16 team went a perfect 12-0 in its 12-game season, beating Johnson Bible College, Chattanooga, Cumberland, Murphy College in Sevierville, Emory & Henry and Centre. The Vols also won twice in Lexington, beating Kentucky and Transylvania there, and won another game in Louisville. 

1999-2000: 11-0

The 1999-2000 season started with five straight wins in Knoxville, with Tennessee beating Elon, UNC Asheville, Long Island, South Florida and Miami (Ohio). The Vols then went on the road and won 76-50 at Pitt, returned home to beat West Virginia and MTSU at Thompson-Boling Arena, then beat Memphis at Memphis. Tennessee won two games in Puerto Rico, against American University of Puerto Rico and Southern Illinois, before the 11-game win streak was snapped in an 88-68 loss to Tulsa. Tennessee finished 21-9, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Southwest Missouri State. 

2024-25: 10-0

Before the 66-64 win at the horn at Illinois on Saturday, Tennessee had won each of its first nine games by at least 13 points. The Vols won by 22 at Louisville in November, beat Virginia by 22 and Baylor by 15 over back-to-back days in The Bahamas and beat Syracuse 96-70 in the SEC-ACC Challenge on December 3. The Vols reached No. 1 in the rankings last week, after an 8-0 start,  and beat Miami 75-62 in the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, before the road win at Illinois.

1997-98: 10-0

Tennessee won eight straight home games to start the 1997-98 season, then went to Memphis for a 68-66 win over the rival Tigers and to Los Angeles for a 74-70 win over Southern Cal. The 10-0 start was followed by a 1-5 stretch over the next six games, with losses to Florida, Auburn, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Kentucky. The Vols would finish the season 20-9, eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Illinois State in an 82-81 loss. 

1913-14: 9-0

Tennessee started the 1913-14 season with nine straight wins, lost two in a row, then ended the year with six straight wins. The streak to start included wins over South Chattanooga YMCA, Knoxville High School, Johnson Bible College, Carson Newman, two games in two day against Alabama and at Cumberland College. Both losses came at Kentucky over back-to-back days in February 1914, followed by road wins over Louisville YMCA and Louisville.