Where Tennessee is ranked in the updated Associated Press Top 25
Tennessee basketball dropped four spots in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 and is now ranked No. 6 after splitting games last week, losing 67-54 at Florida on Wednesday and beating Auburn 46-43 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.
Purdue stayed at No. 1 despite its loss at Indiana on Saturday. No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Arizona all moved up one spot while No. 5 Texas jumped up five places, coming in one spot ahead of Tennessee.
The Vols (19-4, 8-2 SEC) go to Vanderbilt (11-12, 4-6) on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network at Memorial Gymnasium. Tennessee beat Vandy 77-68 in Knoxville on January 10 and have won 11 straight in the series, including five straight in Nashville. Missouri (17-6, 5-5) comes to Knoxville on Saturday.
Tennessee remained at No. 2 in the NET ranking, the metric used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to seed the 68-team bracket. The Vols are 5-2 in Quad 1 games, 3-2 in Quad 2 games and a combined 11-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games.
Tennessee projected as No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament
The Vols were at No. 1 in the KenPom.com ratings last week, but dropped to No. 2, behind Houston, after the loss at Florida. Tennessee has had the No. 1 defense in college basketball the last two and a half months, giving up 84.1 points per 100 possessions according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency rating.
Tennessee is 61st in offensive efficiency after shooting 27.0 percent from the field in the win over Auburn and just 9.5 percent from the 3-point line. The Vols shots 27.9 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from the 3-point line in the loss at Florida.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Tennessee as a No. 2 seed in his NCAA Tournament projection after the win over Auburn on Saturday, with the Vols as the No. 7 overall seed, behind Purdue (1), Alabama (1), Houston (1), Arizona (1), Kansas (2) and UCLA (2). Texas was the fourth No. 2 seed.
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ESPN’s Jeff Borzello dropped Tennessee to sixth in his college basketball power rankings on Monday because of the skidding offense.
“While Tennessee found a lot of success going with a smaller lineup for several games following the return of Josiah-Jordan James,” Borzello wrote, “there was a concern for much of the season that the Volunteers might not be consistent enough offensively to win a national title. That certainly rose to the surface last week, in their 67-54 loss to Florida and 46-43 win over Auburn.
Up Next: Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network
“In both games, they scored 100 points on 132 possessions, good enough for 0.76 points per possession. For reference, the least efficient offense in the country (LIU) scores 0.86 points per possession. The Vols simply couldn’t score, either inside or outside the arc. They shot 7-for-46 from 3 and made just 34.1% of their 2s.”
NCAA.com‘s Andy Katz, in his weekly Power 36, ranked the Vols third, behind Purdue and Houston.
“The Vols did lose to Florida,” Katz wrote, “but the win over Auburn should show this team isn’t fading in any way.”
