KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team ascended to third nationally in each major poll, as revealed Monday afternoon.
Tennessee (7-0) moved up four spots in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and jumped three positions in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
This is the 64th week Tennessee is in the AP Poll, a stretch spanning four years that dates to the 2021-22 preseason edition. That tally is 27 weeks longer than the program’s previous record and is the third-longest active mark in the country, trailing only Houston (90) and Kansas (69), while no other school is even at 45-plus. The closest SEC team is Kentucky (26), tied for ninth overall and 38 weeks shy of Tennessee.
The Volunteers are in the AP top 15 for the 38th time in the last 41 releases, going back to Nov. 28, 2022. Tennessee now has 60 AP top-10 rankings in head coach Rick Barnes‘ 10-year tenure, including 28 in the top five, the latter mark 11 more than the program’s full total before his 2015 arrival in Knoxville.
This is the fifth straight year Tennessee has earned an AP top-six ranking and the fourth in a row it has reached the AP top five.
The Volunteers won their lone contest last week, posting a 78-35 home victory Wednesday against UT Martin. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier paced all scorers with 18 points, while Tennessee set a program record for both fewest points allowed in the shot-clock era and fewest points conceded at Food City Center.
Across its seven contests thus far, Tennessee has led for 266 minutes and 16 seconds of a possible 280 minutes, while trailing for only four minutes and 39 seconds. It has built a lead of at least 26 points in every game, winning all of them by 15-plus, and has not faced a deficit above three.
The Volunteers amassed 1,351 points in the AP Poll voting, good for a 235-point improvement from last week. They registered 694 points in the Coaches Poll balloting, an increase of 107.
Tennessee is among eight SEC teams in the top 25 of both polls, five of which are in the top 13 of each. It is joined by second-ranked Auburn, No. 4/6 Kentucky, No. 10/12 Alabama, No. 13 Florida, No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 22/24 Texas A&M and No. 23/20 Ole Miss. Additionally, Texas is in the top three of the receiving votes category of each poll, while three other schools—Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi State—are listed in that section of both polls, as well.
In addition, Tennessee ranks first in the country in the initial edition of the NCAA’s NET rankings, as announced Monday morning. The team also checks in at second overall in KenPom’s rankings.
The Volunteers begin the second month of the season Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. when they host Syracuse in an SEC/ACC Challenge matchup, live on ESPN from Food City Center.
