KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is in the top eight of both major polls for the 13th consecutive week.
Tennessee (21-5, 8-5 SEC) sits sixth in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as released Monday afternoon. It dropped one spot in the former and two in the latter.
The 13-week streak in the AP top 10 is now solely the fourth-longest such mark in program history. Four of the six double-digit streaks, including three of the four tallies of 13-plus weeks, have come in the last seven years under head coach Rick Barnes.
The Volunteers are in the AP top 10 for the 71st time in Barnes’ tenure, which dates to 2015-16, after they had 28 such nods in the 14 seasons (2001-15) before his arrival. This is also the 49th time in the last 52 poll releases—that goes back to Nov. 28, 2022—Tennessee is in the AP top 15.
In addition, Tennessee is listed in the AP top 25 for the 75th week in a row, a mark that extends across four campaigns and dates to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The number is greater than double the previous program record of 37, recorded March 1999 to Feb. 2001.
The 75-week streak is good for the third-longest active count in the country, behind just Houston (101) and Kansas (80). No other program is at even 55-plus, while the closest SEC school is Kentucky with a 37-week mark that is seventh-longest nationally and 38 behind Tennessee.
Tennessee split its two contests last week. First, it dropped a 75-64 outing Tuesday night at No. 15/18 Kentucky despite game highs in points (17) and assists (six) from senior guard Zakai Zeigler. It rebounded for a Saturday afternoon home win over Vanderbilt, storming back from a 16-point deficit to claim an 81-76 victory behind a season-high 22 points, all in the second half, and eight assists from Zeigler.
The Volunteers collected 1,147 points in the AP Poll balloting this week and 605 in the Coaches Poll, the latter just 67 shy of fifth-place Houston.
Tennessee is among eight SEC schools in the top 25 from both voting bodies, joining top-ranked Auburn, second-ranked Florida, fourth-ranked Alabama, seventh-ranked Texas A&M, No. 15/16 Missouri, No. 17/21 Kentucky and No. 21/23 Mississippi State. Meanwhile, Ole Miss is No. 24 in the AP Poll and atop the receiving votes section of the Coaches Poll.
Following their midweek bye, the Volunteers resume play Saturday at noon ET against seventh-ranked Texas A&M at Reed Arena in Bryan-College Station, Texas, live on ESPN.
