ESPN drops Tennessee in College Basketball Power Rankings after loss to Kentucky
Tennessee Basketball dropped three spots to No. 9 in ESPN’s updated college basketball power rankings after the 78-73 loss to Kentucky Tuesday night in Knoxville, the second straight loss for the Vols and their third in the last four games.
Auburn stayed at No. 1 in ESPN’s rankings, ahead of No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Iowa State and No. 5 Florida. Houston was No. 6, Marquette is No. 7 and Kentucky moved up to No. 8.
Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC), which dropped to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 and Coaches Poll on Monday, will look to bounce back against No. 5 Florida (18-2, 5-2) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ESPN), before No. 20 Missouri comes to town on Wednesday.
“Tennessee dropped its second straight game and lost for the fourth time in seven games Tuesday,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote, “giving up a season-high 78 points to Kentucky in Knoxville.
“While the defensive performance was the Volunteers’ second worst all season on a per-possession basis, much of the blame for the loss will fall on their offense.”
Tennessee finished 11-for-45 from the 3-point line and shot 34.7% from the field in the loss to Kentucky. The Vols went 6-for-25 from the 3-point line in the second half alone.
“Some of the stats are eye-popping,” Borzello wrote. “The Vols were 13-for-41 on uncontested shots, including 8-for-33 on uncontested 3-pointers. They were 7-for-16 on layups. And they made one fewer 3-pointer than Kentucky despite attempting 21 more 3s.”
Vols ranked No. 4 in NET, No. 6 in KenPom
Tennessee stayed at No. 4 in the NET rankings after the loss to Kentucky. The Vols are now 5-4 in Quad 1 games and a combined 12-0 in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games.
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The four losses for Tennessee have come against the No. 1 team in the NET, Auburn, as well as No. 5 Florida, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 38 Vanderbilt.
The Vols also stayed at No. 6 overall in the KenPom.com ratings.
They’re No. 2 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency — dropping from No. 1 after the loss to Kentucky — while giving up 87.4 points per 100 possessions. They’re No. 36 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions.
ESPN Bracketology has Tennessee as a No. 2 seed
Joe Lunardi’s latest ESPN Bracketology update had Tennessee projected as the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, dropping one spot after the loss to Kentucky while staying on the No. 2-seed line.
Lunardi’s NCAA Tournament bracket projection on Tuesday morning had Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, facing No. 15 Bryant in the first round in Cleveland and playing opposite of No. 7 Maryland and No. 10 San Diego State.
Iowa State was the No. 1 seed in the West Region, Kentucky was the No. 3 seed, Oregon was the No. 4 and Arizona was the No. 5. Vanderbilt was the No. 9 seed.
