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Where Tennessee basketball stands in rankings, NET and bracketology after the win at Kentucky

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey02/05/24GrantRamey
Zakai Zeigler Santiago Vescovi
Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee basketball on Monday was ranked No. 6 in the both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25, dropping one spot after splitting games against South Carolina and Kentucky last week.

The Vols won 103-92 at Kentucky Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington after losing 63-59 at home to South Carolina on Tuesday.

Tennessee (16-5, 6-2 SEC) is back home to host LSU (12-9, 4-4) on Wednesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Where Tennessee stands in NET, KenPom, Bracketology

Tennessee is No. 6 in both the NET — the metric the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses to help seed the 68-team field — and in the KenPom.com rankings.

The Vols are up to No. 15 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 118.9 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 2 in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 92.1 points per 100 possessions.

Tennessee’s win at Kentucky was its fourth Quad 1 win of the season, improving the Quad 1 record to 4-4. The loss to South Carolina was the first Quad 2 loss of the season, dropping Tennessee to 5-1 in Quad 2 games. The Vols are a combined 7-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games. 

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi wrote on Sunday that Tennessee “firmly made its case for a No. 1 seed” with the win at Kentucky, but Houston and North Carolina are in the way as the third and fourth No. 1 seeds.

Lunardi has Tennessee as his No. 5 overall seed, listed as the top No. 2 seed in his updated seed list. Purdue, UConn, Houston and North Carolina are the current No. 1 seeds, in that order, ahead of Tennessee, Arizona, Marquette and Kansas.

Wisconsin, Alabama, Illinois and Duke are the No. 3 seeds and Auburn, Iowa State, Creighton and Baylor are Lundardi’s No. 4 seeds.

Vols 1.5 games back of Alabama in SEC standings

The Vols start the week 1.5 games back of first-place Alabama (16-6, 8-1) in the SEC standings. South Carolina (19-3, 7-2) and Auburn (18-4, 7-2) are a game back.

LSU beat Arkansas 95-74 Saturday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, snapping a three-game losing streak, dropping games against at Alabama (109-88), at Georgia (68-66) and at home against Texas A&M (73-69). 

The Vols go back on the road Saturday starting a stretch of three of four games away from home. They go to Texas A&M on Saturday and play at Arkansas on February 14. Vanderbilt comes to Thompson-Boling Arena on February 17 and the Vols go to Missouri on February 20. 

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