Tennessee basketball dropped two spots from No. 6 to No. 8 in the Dec. 19 AP Poll after Arizona ended its eight-game winning streak Saturday night in Tucson.
Tennessee is the highest-ranked two-loss team in the poll this week.
The Vols were off in the midweek due to finals before heading west to the desert for its biggest test of the season to date. Tennessee led for much of the first half before falling behind double-digits in the second half before charging back to cut Arizona’s lead to one and come just short against the Wildcats.
Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes was upset with some of the officiating and with center Uros Plavsic’s “antics” but was overall content with how his team performed in their first true road game.
More From RTI: Everything Rick Barnes Said Following Arizona Loss
Tennessee is one of six SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll joining N0. 9 Alabama, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 23 Auburn.
It was a poor week for the SEC against the west coast as UCLA beat Kentucky, Gonzaga beat Alabama and USC beat Auburn all on top of Arizona’s win over Tennessee.
The Vols face Austin Peay at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday night in its final game before the Christmas break and SEC play. Tennessee opens up SEC play on Dec. 28 at Ole Miss.
AP Top 10 College Basketball Poll:
- Purdue (11-0)
- UConn (12-0)
- Houston (11-1)
- Kansas (10-1)
- Arizona (10-1)
- Virginia (8-1)
- Texas (9-1)
- Tennessee (9-2)
- Alabama (9-2)
- Arkansas (10-1)
