Tennessee basketball remains the top team in this week’s AP Poll after going 2-0 in its first week as the No. 1 team in the country.
The Vols are one of eight SEC teams in this week’s rankings, coming in ahead of No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Florida, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 17 Ole Miss.
Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team faced a pair of tests away from home in its first week as the nation’s top team. The Vols jumped out to a massive lead over Miami in New York City before holding on to earn a 75-62 victory.
Then Tennessee earned its best win of the season to date, winning a 66-64 thriller over Illinois in Champaign. The Vols battled foul trouble with starting backcourt Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier each missing a large chunk of the second half while in foul trouble before eventually fouling out.
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But Zeigler and Lanier sidelined, shooting guard Jordan Gainey stepped up. Gainey scored 18 of his team-high 23 points in the second half including the game winning layup as time expired.
Tennessee is now off to a 10-0 start to the season which is its best start to the season since 1999-2000. If the Vols win their final three non conference games and open SEC play with a home win over Arkansas then Tennessee will tie its best start to the season in 1922-23.
That is a very doable task as Tennessee faces three buy games and an average Arkansas team at home. KenPom predicts Tennessee to win all four of those games by at lest 14-points. After the Arkansas game is when life gets very difficult in SEC play. Tennessee travels to Gainesville to face a Florida team that’s one of the top in the conference.
But first, Tennessee hosts Western Carolina at 7 p.m. ET at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Tuesday night. The SEC Network+ is streaming the game.
