Where Tennessee basketball is ranked in the AP Top 25, Coaches Poll and NET

Tennessee basketball dropped seven spots in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday and is now ranked No. 17. The Vols dropped two spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 13.

They debuted at No. 17 in the first NET ranking of the new season on Monday. The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) replaced the RPI five years ago and is used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to help seed the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee (4-3) has a 1-3 record in Quad 1 games, are 1-0 in Quad 3 and 2-0 in Quad 4. The best NET win of the season so far was at No. 26 Wisconsin and the worst loss was at No. 32 North Carolina last week.

The Vols have dropped three straight — at North Carolina after back-to-back losses to Purdue and Kansas in the Maui Invitational — after starting the season 4-0.

Tennessee (4-3) hosts George Mason (7-1) on Tuesday, a 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+ at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Head coach Rick Barnes is scheduled to meet with reporters before Monday afternoon’s practice. There hasn’t yet been an updated on Dalton Knecht, who left the 100-92 loss to the Tar Heels on Wednesday with a left ankle injury.

“He stepped on somebody’s foot, turned his ankle,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference at North Carolina. “It looked like he got it pretty good because he’s the kind of guy that, he bounces back. And for him not to get up, he, he got it pretty good.”

Dalton Knecht tied scoring record for opposing player at the Dean Smith Center

Knecht’s 37 points at North Carolina came on 13-for-17 shooting from the floor. He made a season-high four 3-pointers and went 7-for-8 at the foul line. He scored 22 in the second half alone, making 8 of 9 shots.

He tied the record for points scored by an opposing player at the Dean Smith Center, matching La Salle’s Lionel Simmons’ 37 points scored against the Tar Heels in January 1988.

In three true road games against Power 5 competition — the exhibition win at Michigan State on October 29, the win at Wisconsin on November 10 and this week’s trip to Carolina — Knecht has combined for 89 points on just 48 shots. 

Up Next: Tennessee vs. George Mason, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

Tennessee is entering a stretch of six home games over the next seven games on schedule, starting with Tuesday’s game against George Mason.

Illinois comes to Knoxville on December 9, a Noon ET start on CBS and it’s Georgia Southern on December 12. The Vols play North Carolina State in a neutral-site game in San Antonio on December 16.

Tarleton State on December 21 is the final game before the Christmas break and Norfolk State on January 2 is the final non-conference game, with SEC play starting January 6 at home against Ole Miss. 

Tennessee’s next true road game is at Mississippi State on January 10 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.