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Tennessee Basketball stays at No. 1 in AP Top 25, Coaches Poll for fourth straight week

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•12/30/24•

GrantRamey

Cade Phillips, Tennessee Basketball | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
(Randy Sartin-Imagn Images) Dec 23, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Cade Phillips (12) reacts after dunking the ball against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee Basketball will spend a fourth week ranked No. 1. The Vols stayed atop the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll on Monday afternoon, staying ahead of No. 2 Auburn in both polls.

No. 1 Tennessee (12-0) hosts Norfolk State (9-6) on Tuesday afternoon (3 Eastern Time, SEC Network+) in the final non-conference game of the season. SEC play opens Saturday against Arkansas.

Auburn (11-1) has spent the last three weeks closing the gap in first-place votes. 

The Vols got 20 first-place votes in each of the last two Coaches Polls while Auburn received 11. Two weeks ago Tennessee got 22 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll to nine for Auburn.They received 26 first-place votes three weeks ago while Auburn got five.

Tennessee in the AP Top 25 last week got 41 first-place votes to 21 for Auburn. Two weeks ago the Vols got 50 first-place votes to 12 for Auburn. Three weeks ago it was 58 for the Vols and three for Auburn.

Vols ranked No. 2 in NET with 3-0 record in Quad 1 games

Tennessee is ranked No. 2 in the NET, behind No. 1 Auburn. The Vols are 3-0 in Quad 1 games and a combined 9-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games. Auburn is 6-1 in Quad 1 and 5-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4. 

The SEC schedule will be loaded with Quad 1 opportunities, with South Carolina being the lowest-ranked SEC team in the NET at No. 85. 

Tennessee is one of five SEC teams in the NET’s top 15. Florida is No. 4, Alabama is No. 8 and Mississippi State is No. 14. There are 14 SEC teams ranked in the top 50 of the NET.

Tennessee ranked No. 3 overall in KenPom.com ratings

Tennessee is ranked No. 3 overall in the KenPom.com ratings, behind No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Duke. The Vols are No. 2 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 88.4 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 15 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 119.5 points per 100 possessions. 

Auburn has the No. 1 KenPom offense and is ranked No. 13 on defense. Duke is No. 1 on defense and No. 10 on offense. 

Tennessee has three games on schedule against current top-10 KenPom teams. The Vols go to Auburn on January 25, have a home-and-home with No. 7 Florida on January 7 (away) and February 1 (home) and host No. 8 Alabama on March 1.

South Carolina, at No. 63 overall, is the lowest-ranked SEC team in the KenPom ratings. The Vols host the Gamecocks in the regular-season finale on March 8 at Food City Center. 

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