Tennessee’s men’s basketball team began the 2018-19 season as the No. 6 team in the AP Poll. Now, just one week into the season, they’ve moved inside the top 5 of the poll.
With Kentucky’s 118-84 loss to Duke to start the season, the Wildcats fell from No. 2 in the AP Poll down to No. 10. And the Wildcats’ plummet moved the Vols up a spot from No. 6 to No. 5 in the poll.
Not only that, but Tennessee also received a first place vote in the poll. Of the 65 first place votes handed out in the AP Poll, Tennessee got one, Virginia received two, Kansas got 14 votes, and Duke ascended to No. 1 with 48 first place votes. They knocked Kansas down a spot to No. 2 with their rise from No. 4 to No. 1.
Tennessee hasn’t been in the top 5 of the AP Poll since the 2007-08 season. The Vols began that year as the No. 7 team in the country and moved to No. 3 in January after an 11-game winning streak culminated in a victory over Ohio State. A month later, Tennessee would ascend to No. 1 after defeating No. 1 Memphis on the road, 66-62. The Vols would finish that season as the No. 5 team in the country and made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Vols have started the year with two convincing victories. Tennessee cruised to an 86-41 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne on November 6th then followed that up with another dominating win over Louisiana, defeating the Ragin’ Cajuns by a score of 87-65.
No. 5 Tennessee will take on Georgia Tech (1-0) on Tuesday night at 9:00 PM Eastern in Thompson-Boling Arena.
