Three men’s college basketball teams entered the first Saturday of 2025 undefeated. As of Sunday morning, top-ranked Tennessee is the only undefeated team remaining in the country.
SEC foes Florida and Oklahoma also entered the day without a loss. No. 6 Florida fell 106-100 No. 10 Kentucky in a thriller at Rupp Arena in Lexington. While the Gators lost in a close game, No. 5 Alabama blew No. 12 Oklahoma out of the gym, 107-79, in Tuscaloosa.
While Florida has looked like one of the top teams in the country over the first two months of the season, Oklahoma hadn’t looked as dominant with just two wins over teams ranked in the top 25 of KenPom.
As Florida and Oklahoma stumbled to open up conference play, Tennessee routed No. 23 Arkansas 76-52 in Knoxville to improve to 14-0 in program history. It’s tied for the best start in program history and tied for the longest winning streak in program history.
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Tennessee’s top three players led the way in its win over Arkansas. Zakai Zeigler ran the show, totaling 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Shooting guard Chaz Lanier had his highest scoring total in a Tennessee uniform, going for 29 points while knocking down five-of-nine attempts from three-point range.
But neither were as good as power forward Igor Milicic Jr who scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds while dishing out five assists in a truly dominant performance.
The win all but ensures that Tennessee will remain the No. 1 team in the AP Poll for the fifth straight week. That passes Tennessee’s previous long stretch atop the AP Poll with the Vols spending four weeks as the nation’s top-ranked team in 2019.
Tennessee’s challenge is bigger this coming week than it’s been all season. The Vols face Florida on Tuesday night in Gainesville before traveling to Austin to face Texas on Saturday evening.
