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Tennessee Basketball ranked No. 1 for fifth straight week, sets new program record

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•01/06/25•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee stayed at No. 1 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll Monday and has now set a new program record with five straight weeks ranked No. 1.

The Vols received 21 first-place votes to 10 for Auburn in this week’s Coaches Poll, after getting 20 first-place votes last week. They received 45 first-place votes in the AP Poll after getting 41 last week.

Tennessee’s 2018-19 team was ranked No. 1 for four weeks during its 19-game win streak. The 2007-08 team spent one week at No. 1, after becoming the first Tennessee team to be ranked No. 1.

No. 1 Tennessee (14-0) goes to No. 8 Florida (13-1) for its biggest test to date on Tuesday night (7 Eastern Time, ESPN2) in Gainesville. The Gators dropped three spots in the Coaches Poll after losing at Kentucky on Saturday.

Tennessee matches best start in program history

The Vols are the last undefeated team left in college basketball and are off to the second best start to a season in Tennessee Basketball history, with their 14-0 record matching the 1922-23 team’s start in a 17-game season.

Florida and Oklahoma were both undefeated entering the start of SEC play on Saturday, but the Gators lost 106-100 at Kentucky and Oklahoma lost 107-79 at Alabama.

Tennessee’s 14-game win streak is just the fourth in program history, but the second during the Rick Barnes era. The 2018-19 team won 19 straight games and a 15-game win streak bridged the 1914-15 and 1915-16 seasons, to go with the 14-game win streak to start the 1922-23 season. 

Vols ranked No. 3 in NET, No. 4 in KenPom

The Vols are ranked No. 3 overall in the NET with a 3-0 record in Quad 1 games, a 1-0 record in Quad 2 and a combined 10-0 record in Quad 3 and 4. Auburn is No. 1 with a 6-1 Quad 1 record and 6-0 Quad 3 and Quad 4 record. Duke is No. 2 with a 4-2 Quad 1 record and an 8-0 record in Quad 3 and Quad 4.

Tennessee is No. 4 overall in the KenPom.com ratings — behind No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Houston — but the Vols went back to No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency on Saturday.

The Vols are giving up just 87.1 points per 100 possessions after limiting Arkansas to 52 points on Saturday. Tennessee is No. 20 in adjusted offensive efficiency, at 119.1 points per 100 possessions.

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