Courtesy / UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team moved to fifth in the nation in each major poll this week.
Tennessee (14-4, 4-1) ascended one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and two positions in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Monday afternoon.
This is the 50th consecutive week the Volunteers are in the AP Poll, the third-longest streak in the country—Houston is first at 76 and Kansas is second at 55—and 13 weeks longer than the prior program record. Tennessee has earned a top-10 spot in 23 of those 50 weeks, including a top-five nod on six occasions.
This is the sixth straight week Tennessee is in the AP top 10, tied for its seventh-longest streak ever. Four of the eight such occurrences in program history have come under ninth-year head coach Rick Barnes, all since the 2018-19 campaign.
The Volunteers won both their games last week, each at Food City Center, by 19-plus points without trailing for even a second. First, behind a career-high 39 points from fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht, they logged an 85-66 victory Tuesday over Florida. They followed that Saturday with a 91-71 triumph over Alabama, as Knecht logged his fourth straight 25-point performance.
Tennessee garnered 1,237 points in the AP Poll balloting, an increase of 90 from last week. In the Coaches Poll, the Volunteers tallied 671 points, a 97-point jump, to move just seven shy of fourth-place Houston.
The Volunteers are once again the highest-ranked team in the SEC, which now has three top-eight teams. They are joined by sixth-ranked Kentucky and No. 8/6 Auburn on both lists. Meanwhile, Alabama is the top four of the “receiving votes” section of both polls and Florida claimed points in the AP Poll.
Following their midweek bye, the Volunteers head to Nashville, Tenn., where they take on Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium, with action slated for 6 p.m. ET, live on SEC Network.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
