Tennessee basketball set another record with its No. 5 finish in AP Top 25, Coaches Poll
Tennessee basketball finishing at No. 5 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll on Tuesday tied a program record for the highest finish in the AP Top 25 and set a new record for highest finish in the Coaches Poll.
The Vols finished at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 in both 2007-08 and 2021-22. Previously the highest finish in the Coaches Poll was No. 7 in 2007-08.
Tennessee (27-9) moved up one spot in the final polls after making their run to the Elite Eight, where they lost to No. 1 Purdue 72-66 on March 31 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. They beat No. 3 Creighton 82-75 in the Sweet 16, just the program’s second Sweet 16 win and first since 2010.
Tennessee won 79 games over the last three seasons
Rick Barnes with the win over Creighton became Tennessee’s all-time winningest head coach in NCAA Tournament play, picking up his ninth win and passing Bruce Pearl. Barnes is 9-6 in the NCAA Tournament with the Vols while Pearl finished 8-6.
Tennessee has won 79 games over the last three seasons, the winningest three-season stretch in program history. The Vols have won 25 or more games in five of the nine seasons under Barnes, after the program had just three seasons with 25 or more wins before Barnes. Two of those three came under Pearl, who won 31 games in 2007-08 and 28 in 2009-10. Jerry Green’s 1999-2000 Tennessee team won 26 games on its way to the Sweet 16.
Barnes also holds the Tennessee record for total wins in back-to-back seasons, with 57 over the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. The Vols tied the program record with 31 wins in 2018-19 after winning 26 games in 2017-18.
Tennessee has been ranked in the top ten in the AP poll for 15 straight weeks, the second longest stretch in program history. The 2018-19 team was in the top ten for 20 straight weeks.
Vols have been ranked for 59 straight weeks, third-longest streak in college basketball
The Vols have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 59 straight weeks, the third-longest current run in college basketball, behind Houston (85) and Kansas (64). Arizona (57) is the only other program with 40 or more straight weeks ranked.
The Tennessee program record was 37 straight weeks ranked between March 1999 and February 2001.
Barnes has led Tennessee to 57 of its 151 all-time AP top-10 rankings. The Vols were in the top ten in 18 of the 20 AP poll updates this season and were ranked eighth or higher in each of the final 15 AP Top 25s of the season.
The Vols also finished at No. 5 overall in the KenPom.com ratings, the highest final ranking for Tennessee in the KenPom era.
