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Where Tennessee Basketball is ranked after splitting games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•02/17/25•

GrantRamey

Felix Okpara, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Felix Okpara, Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Basketball is ranked No. 6 in both The Associated Press Top 25 the Coaches Poll this week, dropping one spot in the AP Top 25 and two spots in the Coaches Poll after splitting games last week against Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

The Vols (20-5, 8-5 SEC) lost 75-64 at Kentucky on Tuesday and rallied from down 16 points to beat Vandy 81-76 at Food City Center on Saturday.

Tennessee, which does not have a midweek game this week, goes to Texas A&M (20-5, 9-3) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time, ESPN). The Aggies, who were ranked No. 7 in both polls on Monday, play at No. 21 Mississippi State on Tuesday. 

The Vols are sixth in the SEC standings to start the week, 3.5 games back of first-place Auburn (23-2, 11-1) with five games left. Alabama is in second at 10-2, Florida and Texas A&M are tied for third at 9-3 and Missouri is fifth at 8-4.

Tennessee is No. 5 in the NET with an 8-5 record in Quad 1 games and a combined 13-0 record in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games. The win over Vanderbilt Saturday was a Quad 2 win. 

The Vols are also No. 5 in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 87.3 points per 100 possessions, and No. 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 118.4 points per 100 possessions. 

Tennessee on Saturday afternoon was a No. 2 seed when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed its current top-16 seeds. The Vols are the No. 5 overall seed. 

Auburn was the No. 1 overall seed, ahead of Alabama, Duke and Florida on the No. 1-seed line. 

The other No. 2 seeds were Texas A&M, Purdue and Houston. The No. 3 seeds were Iowa State, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arizona. The No. 4 seeds were Texas Tech, Michigan, Kansas and St. John’s.

Tennessee was in the East Region, where Duke was the No. 1 seed. Arizona was the No. 3 seed and St. John’s No. 4 seed.

The Vols have never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but have been a No. 2 seed three times, including twice under Rick Barnes.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Saturday morning had Tennessee as the top No. 2 seed and his No. 5 overall seed. Vols were previously projected as a No. 1 seed in ESPN Bracketology but slipped to the first No. 2 seed after the 75-64 loss to Kentucky at Rupp Arena Tuesday night. 

Florida jumped the Vols to become the new fourth No. 1 seed, behind No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Duke. Lunardi’s other No. 2 seeds were Houston, Purdue and Texas A&M, respectively.

The current bracket projection from ESPN has Tennessee in the East Region, where Duke is the No .1 seed. The Vols were matched up against No. 15 Towson in Cleveland, opposite of No. 7 Louisville and No. 10 West Virginia.

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