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Where Tennessee Basketball is ranked after its first loss of the season

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 23 hours•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
(Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images) Jan 7, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) makes a layup over Florida Gators guard Denzel Aberdeen (11) during the first half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Tennessee Basketball’s run as the No. 1 team in the country is over after five weeks. The Vols dropped five spots to No. 6 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll on Monday, coming off an up-and-down week with the 73-43 loss at Florida on Tuesday and the 74-70 win at Texas Saturday night.

Both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll have identical top fives, with Auburn as the new No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, ahead of No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Florida.

Auburn got 60 of the 62 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 and 25 of the 31 in the Coaches Poll. The Vols received one first-place vote in the Coaches Poll and Florida received one first-place vote in the AP Poll.

Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC) hosts Georgia (14-2, 2-1) on Wednesday (8 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) before going back on the road to play at Vanderbilt on Saturday. Georgia entered the rankings at No. 23 on Monday.

The Vols had been ranked No. 1 since December 9, setting a new program record with the five straight weeks at the top of the polls, and went 7-1 in eight games as the No. 1-ranked team.

Vols are No. 4 in NET, No. 6 in KenPom ratings

Tennessee is ranked No. 4 in the NET, behind No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Houston. The Vols have a 4-1 record in Quad 1 games, picking up their fourth Quad 1 win of the season at Texas. They’re 1-0 in Quad 2, 4-0 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4.

KenPom.com currently has Tennessee at No. 6 overall in its ratings system. The Vols are No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 88.1 points per 100 possessions, and are 26th in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 117.4 points per 100 possessions.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped Tennessee from the No. 2 overall seed to No. 3 overall in his updated NCAA Tournament Bracketology last week. He currently projects the Vols as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, playing the opening weekend at Rupp Arena in Lexington, opposite of No. 8 Arizona and No. 9 Maryland.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello dropped Tennessee from No. 2 to No. 6 in his college basketball power rankings last week following the loss at Florida.

No. 2 to No. 6 in his college basketball power rankings.

“Tennessee will have to hope Tuesday was a blip,” Borzello wrote, “as the Volunteers’ loss to Florida will go down in the record books. According to ESPN Research, Tennessee’s 30-point margin of defeat was the third-most all time by an unbeaten AP No. 1 team and the most since Houston in 1968. 

“The Vols’ 43 points were also the third-fewest points scored in a game by an AP No. 1 team in the shot clock era.”

ESPN projects Tennessee as a Final Four contender

Borzello and ESPN’s Myron Medcalf also dropped Tennessee from a national championship contender to a Final Four contender after the 30-point loss at Florida.

“For two months, Tennessee seemed solidly positioned in our ‘title favorites’ group,” ESPN wrote. “And then Tuesday night happened. A 30-point loss at Florida only highlighted the floor for a choppy offense that had nothing to offer in Gainesville. 

“Perhaps it seems harsh, but there was no way to elevate the Vols beyond Final Four-contender status after that performance.”

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