Where Tennessee Basketball is ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25
Tennessee Basketball came in at No. 12 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 on Monday. The Vols have now been ranked for 60 straight weeks, extending a program record that was previous set at 37.
Kansas is the preseason No. 1, ranked ahead of Alabama, UConn, Houston, Iowa State, Gonzaga, Duke, Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in the top 10. Auburn is No. 11, just ahead of the Vols.
Other ranked SEC teams are No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 19 Texas, No. 21 Florida, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 24 Ole Miss.
Tennessee finished at No. 6 in the AP Top 25 last season. The Vols were never ranked lower than No. 17 last season and spent 18 weeks ranked in the top 10 — including the final 14 weeks — and eight weeks in the top five. Tennessee has been ranked every week since the start of the 2021-22 season.
The 14 straight weeks ranked in the AP top 10 tied a program record for the second-longest top-10 streak.
The streak of 60 straight weeks ranked is the third-longest active streak, behind Houston (85) and Kansas (64). Arizona is the only other team above 40, at 57. The Vols have been ranked 72 of the last 75 weeks.
Tennessee has been ranked in the top five in the AP Poll in four of the last six seasons, including each of the last three. The Vols had only done so five times in total before the arrival of Rick Barnes.
Tennessee ranked No. 13 in preseason KenPom.com ratings
The new KenPom.com ratings for the 2024-25 season were also updated on Monday, with Tennessee starting at No. 13 overall. The KenPom numbers have the Vols at No. 4 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 35 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
The first look at the 2024-25 Tennessee basketball team will be October 27, when the Vols host Indiana in a charity exhibition game at Food City Center. The game will start at 3 p.m. Eastern Time and can be streamed on SEC Network+.
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The regular-season schedule opens at home on November 4 against Gardner Webb and Tennessee goes to Louisville on November 9 for the first road game.
Tennessee opens the Baha Mar tournament with Virginia on November 21. The Vols host Syracuse in the SEC-ACC Challenge on December 3, play Miami in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 10 and go to Illinois on December 14. The SEC schedule starts at home on January 4 against John Calipari and Arkansas.
Vols added four transfers, return six scholarship players
Barnes has a new-look roster this season after losing four players to the NCAA Transfer Portal and adding four players out of the portal.
The Vols lost junior center Jonas Aidoo (Arkansas), sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka (Arizona), redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V (Penn State) and redshirt freshman wing DJ Jefferson (Longwood).
Tennessee added North Florida guard Chaz Lanier, Charlotte stretch forward Igor Milicic Jr., Ohio State center Felix Okpara and Hofstra wing Darlinstone Dubar.
There are six returning scholarship players, after the departures of fifth-year seniors Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi: Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler, senior guard Jordan Gainey, senior guard Jahmai Mashack, sophomore forward JP Estrella, sophomore forward Cade Phillips and sophomore wing Cameron Carr.
