Where Tennessee basketball is ranked in updated Associated Press Top 25
Tennessee basketball’s up-and-down week left the Vols ranked No. 11 overall in Monday’s updated Associated Press Top 25, moving down one spot after being ranked No. 10 last week.
Houston is the new No. 1, ahead of No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Purdue, No.6 Virginia, No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 Texas, No. 9 Baylor and No. 10 Marquette.
The Vols on Wednesday upset then-No. 1 Alabama 68-59 at Thompson-Boling Arena, only to turnaround and go to Kentucky on Saturday and fall behind by 20 points at halftime, on the way to a 66-54 loss at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Tennessee (20-7, 9-5 SEC), after four losses over its last six games, is back on the road at Texas A&M (20-7, 12-2) on Tuesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN at Reed Arena in College Station. From there, it’s back-to-back home games, against South Carolina on Saturday and Arkansas on February 28, before the regular-season schedule closes at Auburn on March 4.
Vols fourth in SEC standings after loss at Kentucky
Texas A&M is second in the SEC standings, one game back of Alabama. Tennessee is fourth, behind third-place Kentucky. Vanderbilt is 8-6 in the league and up to fifth after its win over Auburn Saturday night. Arkansas is seventh at 7-7.
The top four teams in the final SEC regular-season standings receive a double-bye into the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.
The Vols were the No. 9 overall seed according to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee on Saturday, when the top 16 seeds were announced during the NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown Preview show.
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Alabama was the No. 1 overall seed, with Houston, Purdue and also on the top-seed line. Texas, Arizona, Baylor and UCLA are the current No. 2 seeds. The Vols were the first No. 3 seed, ahead of Virginia (10), Kansas State (11) and Iowa State (12).
Up Next: Tennessee at Texas A&M, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Tennessee is No. 3 in the NET rankings, the metric the Selection Committee uses to seed the 68-team NCAA Tournament. The Vols are 6-3 in Quad 1 games, 3-4 in Quad 2 games and a combined 11-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games.
“Tennessee, they could’ve easily been a two seed,” Chris Reynolds, the chairman of the NCAA Tournament selection committee said during the bracket preview show on Saturday. “They struggled in the Quad 2, when you look at their Quad 2 record. But they have strong records in Quad 1.”
The Vols are down to No. 5 in the KenPom.com ratings, sliding four spots since taking over the No. 1 ranking on January 28. Tennessee has had KenPom’s No. 1 defense for 13 weeks, giving up 86.0 points per 100 possessions. The offense is just 67th nationally, though, scoring 111.1 points per 100 possessions.
Tennessee started at No. 11 in the preseason rankings, dropped as low as 22 (on November 14 and November 21) and climbed as high as No. 2 (January 30). The Vols have been ranked all 16 weeks this season.
