Tennessee basketball fell one-spot from No. 5 to No. 6 in the Jan. 15 AP Top 25 after going 1-1 on the road last week. Despite losing a game, the Vols only saw a modest drop thanks to four of the top six teams and five of the top 10 teams losing last week.
Rick Barnes’ ninth Tennessee team played a pair of exhilarating road games last week. They trailed Mississippi State by 13 points in the second half before tying the game in the final minute before losing 77-72 in a heartbreaker.
Tennessee’s 85-79 win was even crazier. The Vols built a 14-point first half lead before Georgia took control of the game and went up by as many as 11 points in the second half. But when Tennessee looked all but dead, they ended the game on a 15-1 run to steal the victory.
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The Vols are one of four SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll, coming in ahead of No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Auburn and No. 22 Ole Miss. Alabama, Mississippi State and South Carolina also received votes.
Through three games, Alabama and Auburn are the SEC’s only unbeaten teams in conference play with Kentucky falling at Texas A&M on Saturday.
After a two-game road stretch, Tennessee is back home this week where they’ll face Florida on Tuesday night and Alabama on Saturday afternoon before its conference open date next midweek.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Florida is at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. ESPN is broadcasting the conference matchup.
