KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is in the top 11 of each major poll following the opening week of the season.
The Volunteers check in at No. 11 in the AP Poll and ninth in the Coaches Poll, as released Monday afternoon. As the only AP top-25 team that has played just one game so far, Tennessee fell three spots in that poll while keeping the same position in the Coaches Poll.
This is the 152nd AP top-25 nod for Tennessee under head coach Rick Barnes, all of which are over the last 10 seasons (2017-27). It is the 99th time the program has received a top-15 placement in his tenure.
The Volunteers have been in the AP top 25 in 112 of the past 119 releases, extending to the 2020-21 preseason poll and spanning now seven seasons. It is the 77th time Tennessee is in the top 15 in that time.
To begin the 2026-27 season, the Volunteers earned a 31-point win, 90-59, Tuesday night against Wofford at Food City Center. Sophomore forward DeWayne Brown II had a career-high 17 points and a career-best 17 rebounds in the triumph to lead all players in each category, with junior guard Terrence Hill Jr., matching him in the former.
Tennessee earned 887 points in the AP Poll balloting, just 14 shy of No. 10 Louisville and 73 above No. 12 Arizona. It registered 452 points in the Coaches Poll, a 16-point improvement from last week.
The Volunteers are among six SEC teams in the top 25 of both polls, joining top-ranked Florida, seventh-ranked Texas, No. 18/16 Alabama, No. 19/20 Arkansas and No. 22/19 Vanderbilt. One other SEC team, Kentucky, is No. 24 in the AP Poll, while receiving votes from the coaches. Texas A&M garnered votes from both voting bodies, while Missouri did so in the Coaches Poll.
Tennessee continues competition Monday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Radford at Food City Center, 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.
