KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team checks in at No. 20 nationally in both major polls, as announced Monday afternoon.
Tennessee (7-3) fell seven spots in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. However, the program still extended its AP top-20 ranking streak to 64 weeks in a row.
This is the 86th consecutive week the Volunteers are in the AP top 25, a figure that goes back to the opening poll of the 2021-22 season. That number is 49 weeks above the prior program record of 37 weeks, which came from March 1999 to Feb. 2001.
Tennessee’s 86-week streak is the second-longest active count in the country, trailing just Houston (112). No other team is at even 70-plus weeks, while the closest SEC team, Auburn, is at 40 weeks, 46 shy of the Volunteers’ number.
Across its 86-week streak, Tennessee has earned 81 spots in the AP top 20, including the aforementioned active streak of 64 weeks in a row. Rick Barnes, now in his 11th year as Tennessee’s head coach, has guided the program to 140 total spots in the AP Poll across his tenure, all since 2018-19.
Last week, Tennessee suffered a pair of setbacks in non-home matchups with Power Five foes. It first fell at Syracuse, 62-60, Tuesday night despite a career-high 22 points from junior forward Jaylen Carey. The Volunteers then dropped a 75-62 result Saturday night versus No. 14/15 Illinois at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee finished with 286 points in the AP Poll balloting this week and received 170 points in the Coaches Poll.
There are six SEC teams in the top 25 of both major polls, as Tennessee joins No. 12 Alabama, No. 15/14 Vanderbilt, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 18 Florida and No. 21/24 Auburn. Three additional SEC schools—Georgia, Kentucky and LSU—are in the receiving votes sections of both polls, while Missouri is listed there in the Coaches Poll.
The Volunteers, after nine days without a game, return to the hardwood Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. when they host No. 11 Louisville at Food City Center, live on ESPN and 103.1FM WIKQ beginning at 6:30pm.
