Tennessee Basketball dropped its first loss of the season on Tuesday night in a road game against No. 8 Florida in Gainesville.
But while the 30-point loss was a blowout in every sense, it didn’t do too much to knock Tennessee down in the latest bracketology and power ranking reports.
Tennessee’s loss was concerning, certainly, but the team has also garnered enough goodwill this season to not send the media into a panic. The Vols’ loss did send them down the rankings but not as much as it could have been.
Joe Lunardi’s bracketology update on Wednesday still has Tennessee on the one-line, moving from the second overall one-seed to the third-overall one seed. Lunardi dropped Tennessee behind Duke following the Vols’ loss in Gainesville.
Tennessee projects to land in the Midwest Region, a common prediction for the Vols this season, alongside 2-seed Marquette, 3-seed Kentucky, and 4-seed Houston.
The Vols will have two games against the Wildcats this season with the first taking place in Knoxville on Jan. 28 and the second from Lexington on Feb. 11 – both on a Tuesday night.
Tennessee is one of five SEC teams on the one- or two-line from Lunardi’s latest update with three more conference teams landing as a three- or four-seed.
Tennessee has never held a No. 1 seed in the March Madness tournament but has twice been on the two-line during Rick Barnes’ tenure in Knoxville (2019 and 2024). Tennessee was also a two-seed twice during the Bruce Pearl era (2006 and 2008).
More from RTI: A Look At Tennessee Basketball’s Jarring Offensive Numbers In Loss At Florida
ESPN’s Power Rankings list from Jeff Borzello doesn’t have Tennessee falling too far, either.
Tennessee’s loss dropped them two spots in the power rankings update from Tuesday, going from the No. 4 to the No. 6 slot.
“Tennessee will have to hope Tuesday was a blip, as the Volunteers’ loss to Florida will go down in the record books,” Borzello wrote for ESPN. “According to ESPN Research, Tennessee’s 30-point margin of defeat was the third-most all-time by an unbeaten AP No. 1 team and the most since Houston in 1968. The Vols’ 43 points were also the third-fewest points scored in a game by an AP No. 1 team in the shot clock era.”
Tennessee will look to bounce back this Saturday but will have to do so on the road again as the Vols will travel to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. While the Longhorns’ basketball team certainly doesn’t match the magnitude of its football team, Austin still presents off-the-court challenges with Rick Barnes’ return to his former program. Tennessee will need to lock in and not let Tuesday’s loss turn into an 0-2 week on the road.
Texas (11-4) will host No. 1 Tennessee (14-1) this Saturday evening in Austin at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game on Saturday.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 8, 2025
