KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is in the top five of both national polls of the second week in a row.
Tennessee (20-4, 7-4 SEC) dropped one spot to fifth in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and retained its place at fourth in the country in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
The Volunteers’ AP top-10 streak is now at 12 weeks, tied for their fourth-longest streak ever. Four of Tennessee’s six all-time double-figure streaks are over the last seven seasons under the guidance of head coach Rick Barnes.
This is the 70th time in Barnes’ 10-year tenure the Volunteers are in the AP top 10, including the 35th in the top five. The latter mark is greater than double the school’s full total (17) before he was hired in 2015-16. Tennessee has earned an AP top-five ranking eight times during the 2024-25 campaign.
The Volunteers are in the AP top 25 for the 74th straight week, a ledger that spans four campaigns and began with the 2021-22 preseason poll. That mark doubles the previous program record of 37 set from March 1999 to Feb. 2001.
In addition, Tennessee’s 74-week streak is the third-longest active streak at the Division I level, trailing just Houston (100) and Kansas (79). No other team is at even 55-plus, while the closest SEC school, Kentucky (36), possesses the seventh-longest streak and is 38 shy of the Volunteers.
Furthermore, Tennessee has now claimed an AP top-15 position in 48 of the last 51 poll releases, a mark that extends to Nov. 28, 2022.
Last week, the Volunteers won a pair of conference contests, one over an AP top-15 foe and the other by 18 on the road. First, Wednesday night at Food City Center, they defeated No. 15/16 Missouri, 85-81, behind 21 points apiece from senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., and senior guard Zakai Zeigler. Barnes’ team then tallied a 70-52 triumph Saturday at Oklahoma, with fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier’s 21 points leading the way.
In the AP Poll balloting, Tennessee accumulated 1,315 points, good for 20 more than its total last week, and received one first-place vote. It registered 669 points in the Coaches Poll, a 25-point improvement and just 19 fewer than third-place Florida.
Nine SEC teams are in the top 25 of at least one poll, with eight featured on both lists. Tennessee is alongside No. 1/2 Auburn, No. 2/1 Alabama, third-ranked Florida, No. 8/9 Texas A&M, No. 15/18 Kentucky, No. 19/23 Ole Miss and No. 21/22 Missouri in both polls. Mississippi State is No. 22 in the AP Poll and atop the receiving votes section of the Coaches Poll, with the latter outlet ranking SEC teams in each of the top four spots.
Tennessee is back in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. for an AP top-15 showdown at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., where it faces No. 15/18 Kentucky, live on ESPN. Listen on 103.1FM WIKQ.
