Where Tennessee basketball is ranked in preseason AP Top 25, Coaches Poll
Tennessee basketball will start the season ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll and No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Both preseason polls were released on Monday.
The Vols are three weeks away from the start of the regular-season opener against Tennessee Tech on November 6 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols are a top-ten team in multiple preseason rankings. The Vols are No. 5 in Bart Torvik’s T-Rank projections, No. 6 in Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, No. 8 in the KenPom.com ratings, No. 8 in ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25 and No. 9 in The Field of 68’s “The Almanac.”
Joe Lunardi has Tennessee as a No. 2 seed in his latest Bracketology update and, according to recent numbers from FanDuel, the Vols have the seventh best odds to win a national championship.
Kansas is the current favorite at +1000, coming in ahead of Duke (+1200), Purdue (+1400), Michigan State (+1400), Kentucky (+1600) and UConn (+1800). Arizona and Marquette are just behind the Tennessee, Houston and Creighton at +2500.
Tennessee added two players out of NCAA Transfer Portal alongside eight returners
Tennessee returns both Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James for their fifth seasons, returning alongside sophomore forward Tobe Awaka, junior forward Jonas Aidoo, junior point guard Zakai Zeigler and junior wing Jahmai Mashack.
The Vols added wing Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and guard Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) out of the NCAA Transfer Portal and signed freshman forward JP Estrella, freshman wing Cameron Carr and freshman forward Cade Phillips.
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“Rick Barnes entered the offseason knowing his team needed to improve on the offensive end,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote in his top-25 rankings. “An elite defensive team the past three years, the Volunteers were too often let down by scoring droughts. So he brought in Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and Jordan Gainey (South Carolina Upstate) to boost the perimeter shooting and scoring, while early buzz about freshman Freddie Dilione is hugely positive.
“All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi and veteran starter Josiah-Jordan James are both back, but Zakai Zeigler’s health and availability will be the key.”
A closer look at Tennessee’s 2023-24 schedule
Tennessee, which played three exhibition games in Italy in August, will unofficially start the season with a charity exhibition game at Michigan State on October 29, with money going to Maui wildfire relief. After the regular-season opener against Tennessee Tech at home, the Vols go on the road to play Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison on November 10.
Other notable non-conference games include Syracuse in the first round of the Maui Invitational on November 20, the ACC/SEC Challenge game at North Carolina on November 29 and a home game against Illinois on December 9. Tennessee plays North Carolina State in a neutral-site game in San Antonio on December 16.
The SEC schedule starts at home on January 6 at Ole Miss and the regular-season schedule ends with a home game against Kentucky on March 9.
