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Where Tennessee basketball is ranked in the AP Top 25, Coaches Poll after the loss to Kentucky

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey03/11/24

GrantRamey

Dalton Knecht
(Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports) Mar 9, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Dalton Knecht (3) goes to the basket against Kentucky Wildcats forward Ugonna Onyenso (33) during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

Tennessee basketball on Monday dropped one spot to No. 5 in the new Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll after the 85-81 loss to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Vols (24-7, 14-4 SEC) saw their seven-game win streak snapped in the loss to the Wildcats, who moved up six spots in the AP Top 25 and four spots in the Coaches Poll.

Tennessee spent all 19 weeks of the regular season ranked, including 16 weeks ranked inside the top ten and eight weeks ranked in the top five of both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll. They were ranked as high as No. 4 (for two weeks) and as low as No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.

Up Next: SEC Tournament, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

Tennessee will open the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament on Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The Vols will play at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN against the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 8 LSU and No. 9 Mississippi State.

LSU and Mississippi State tipoff at 1 p.m. ET Thursday on SEC Network.

Auburn is the No. 4 seed on the Tennessee side of the bracket. South Carolina is the No. 5 seed and awaits the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 12 Arkansas and No. 13 Vanderbilt.

Kentucky is the No. 2 seed on the bottom side of the bracket and will play either No. 7 Texas A&M or No. 10 Ole Miss on Friday. Alabama is the No. 3 seed and Florida is the No. 6 seed, awaiting the winner between No. 11 Georgia and No. 14 Missouri.

Where Tennessee stands in Bracketology, NET, KenPom

Tennessee survived the 85-81 loss to Kentucky with its bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in tact. The Vols have new competition to be worried about, though. 

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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi kept the Vols as his No. 4 overall seed on Sunday afternoon, sticking with Tennessee as the No. 1 seed in the West Region after Arizona lost 78-65 at USC late Saturday night. 

Arizona (24-8) is back down to the No. 6 overall seed and was jumped instead by North Carolina (25-6), which moved up to No. 5 overall after winning at Duke on Saturday. 

Tennessee stayed at No. 5 in the NET rankings on Sunday but is now 7-6 in Quad 1 games. The Kentucky loss was a Quad 1 game and the Vols lost another Quad 1 win from their resume when Florida lost at Vanderbilt Saturday, dropping Tennessee’s win over the Gators in January to Quad 2.

The Vols are ranked No. 5 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. They’re ranked No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 91.1 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 25 in adjusted offensive efficiency, giving up 118.5 points per 100 possessions.

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