After a week in which Tennessee defeated LSU in Knoxville and was knocked off by Texas A&M in College Station, the Vols fell two spots to No. 8 in the latest AP Top 25 poll from Monday, Feb. 12. Marquette and Arizona rose up and into the top five as North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kansas all fell two to four spots this week.
Tennessee will look to bounce back with a road contest against Arkansas on Wednesday and a home contest against Vanderbilt this Saturday night.
Despite the drop in the rankings, Tennessee is still the highest-ranked among the five teams from the Southeastern Conference. Three of the SEC’s teams did fall in the rankings, though.
In addition to Tennessee falling to No. 8, Auburn also dropped one spot to No. 13 in the rankings following a week in which the Tigers beat Alabama at home and fell to Florida on the road. Kentucky, meanwhile, dropped five spots to No. 22 after the Wildcats continue to slide. Kentucky has lost five of their last nine games including three out of their last four to Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Florida.
On the flip side, South Carolina’s meteoric rise is also continuing. The Gamecocks jumped from unranked to No. 15 last week and have now bumped four spots up to No. 11 to claim the second-highest ranking among SEC teams. The Gamecocks defeated Vanderbilt and Ole Miss last week to extend a seven-game win streak but do have to play at Auburn on Wednesday night.
And, lastly, Alabama jumped up one spot to No. 15 in the rankings after a week that saw the Tide lose to Auburn before defeating LSU in Baton Rouge.
Among the non-ranked teams that did receive some love from the voters, Florida received 19 votes, Texas A&M received 16, and Ole Miss received 12. Future SEC foes Oklahoma and Texas come in at No. 25 and unranked (9 votes), respectively.
SEC Teams in the Feb. 12 AP Top 25 Poll:
8. Tennessee
11. South Carolina
13. Auburn
15. Alabama
22. Kentucky
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Here’s a look at the midweek competition coming up for SEC teams:
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Texas A&M (15-8, 6-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (6-17, 1-9 SEC) – 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU
LSU (12-11, 4-6 SEC) at Florida (16-7, 6-4 SEC) – 8:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Ole Miss (18-5, 5-5 SEC) at No. 22 Kentucky (16-7, 6-4 SEC) – 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Wednesday, Feb. 14
No. 11 South Carolina (21-3, 9-2 SEC) at No. 13 Auburn (19-5, 8-3 SEC) – 8:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network
No. 8 Tennessee (17-6, 7-3 SEC) at Arkansas (12-11, 3-7 SEC) – 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for complete coverage of Tennessee-Arkansas on Valentine’s Day night.
