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ESPN grades Tennessee Basketball's 30-win, Elite Eight season

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•05/30/25•

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Jordan Gainey
USA TODAY IMAGES/Robert Goddin

Tennessee Basketball was one of seven SEC programs that received an ‘A’ from ESPN this week, when college basketball analyst and reporter Myron Medcalf issued letter grades across the league. 

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt also received an A. The B grades went to Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. No teams in the conference received a C, but LSU, South Carolina and Texas were all given a D. 

Tennessee finished fourth in the SEC’s regular-season standings, going 12-6 in the league while finishing 30-8 overall. The Vols lost in the SEC Tournament championship game to eventual national champion Florida and then advanced to the Elite Eight for a second straight season, before losing to Houston in the East Regional Final at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

‘Barnes’ experience gave him and the Vols an edge, winning 30 games for the third time in program history’

But it was in December at Illinois, when Jordan Gainey went coast to coast and finished with a tough layup to beat the buzzer and lift Tennessee to a thrilling 66-64 win, that summed up the season, according to Medcalf. 

“In the final seconds of Tennessee’s win over Illinois in December, Rick Barnes drew up a play that he had learned from legendary high school coach Morgan Wootten in 1980, when he was a Division I assistant,” Medcalf wrote. “Barnes’ experience gave him and the Vols an edge, winning 30 games for the third time in program history and the second time under him. 

“They ran into a great Houston team in the Elite Eight and fell short against the eventual national runners-up, but that doesn’t take away from how Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier led one of the top teams in the country.”

The 30 wins were the most since Tennessee won 31 under Barnes in 2018-19. It also gave the Vols 25 or more wins for the fourth straight season, after finishing with 27 last season, 25 in 2022-23 and 27 in 2021-22.

Tennessee went through No. 15 Wofford, No. 7 UCLA and No. 3 Kentucky on the way to a second straight Elite Eight. The Vols had previously been to just one Elite Eight, in 2010. 

How the SEC’s other ‘A’ teams performed

Auburn won the SEC regular-season championship at 15-3 and went to the Final Four, before losing to Florida. The Gators were second at 14-4 and Alabama was third at 13-5, with the Crimson Tide also advancing to the Elite Eight before losing to Duke. 

Texas A&M went 23-11 overall and 11-7 in the league but lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt with 20-13 and 8-10 in the SEC under first-year Commodore head coach Mark Byington, but lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

Kentucky went 24-12 and 10-8 in the SEC in Mark Pope’s first year, before its season ended against Tennessee when the two rivals met in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

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