KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament as a top-25 team in both major polls.
Tennessee (22-11, 11-7 SEC) holds the No. 23 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, as revealed Monday afternoon, and the No. 25 position in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Sunday night. It moved up two places in both outlets’ rankings from its position last week.
This is the 109th time in the last 116 poll releases Tennessee is in the AP top 25, a mark that starts with the 2020-21 preseason edition.
Head coach Rick Barnes, now in his 11th season at the helm, has guided the Volunteers to 149 total rankings, all since the 2017-18 campaign. That includes 76 top-10 spots, 38 top-five nods and nine weeks at No. 1 overall.
The Volunteers went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament last week at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Seeded fifth, Tennessee opened play Thursday with a 72-62 win over Auburn, as freshman forward Nate Ament scored 27 points to help the team rally from a 10-point deficit with under 11 minutes to go. The next day, the Volunteers dropped a 75-68 result to No. 22 Vanderbilt despite 21 points from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
Tennessee accumulated 112 points in the AP Poll voting, a 40-point bump from last week. It is tied with Louisville for the No. 23 position and just one point behind No. 22 Saint Mary’s. Meanwhile, the Volunteers collected 76 points in the Coaches Poll balloting, a 54-point improvement and 20 ahead of No. 24 Louisville.
The Volunteers are among five SEC teams in the top 25 of both polls, joining fourth-ranked Florida, No. 14/15 Arkansas, No. 16 Vanderbilt and No. 18 Alabama. Additionally, Kentucky is in the receiving votes section of the AP Poll.
The sixth-seeded Volunteers start NCAA Tournament action Friday at 4:25 p.m., live on TBS from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. They will play the winner of the First Four matchup between No. 11-seeded Miami (OH) and No. 11-seeded SMU.
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.
