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Tennessee Basketball drops in Week 1 Associated Press Top 25, Coaches Poll

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey7 hours agoGrantRamey
Amaree Abram, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics
Amaree Abram, Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Basketball dropped two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, going from No. 18 to No. 20, and dropped one spot in the Coaches Poll, going from No. 17 to No. 18.

The Vols (2-0) beat Mercer 76-61 on Monday in the season opener at Food City Center then beat Northern Kentucky 95-56 on Saturday afternoon.

Tennessee hosts North Florida on Wednesday in a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+. The Vols are home against Rice next Monday Tennessee State on November 20 before going to Las Vegas for the Players Era Men’s Championship, where they’ll face Rutgers on November 24, No. 2 Houston on November 25 and a third team that is to be determined on either November 26 or 27.

Vols have been ranked for 82 straight weeks 

Tennessee has been ranked for 82 straight weeks, the second-longest active streak in college basketball and more than doubling the previous program record of 37 straight weeks ranked.

The Vols have been ranked every week since the start of the 2021-22 season and have been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 for six straight seasons.

Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 in the Coaches Poll for 20 straight weeks last season and was ranked in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 for 18 straight weeks. The Vols were also ranked No. 1 for five straight weeks last season while tying a program record with its 14-0 start to the season. 

Where Tennessee is ranked in the KenPom ratings

Tennessee moved up two spots to No. 13 overall in the KenPom.com ratings after the win over Northern Kentucky. The Vols are ranked No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency (91.6) and No. 35 in adjusted offensive efficiency (116.2).

KenPom had Tennessee at No. 9 overall in its first ratings update for the 2025-26 season, but dropped to No. 15 after the win over Mercer. The Vols finished at No. 6 in the KenPom ratings in 2022-23 and No. 9 in the 2021-22. Their last KenPom finish outside the top 10 was No. 28 in 2020-21.

Tennessee last season finished No. 17 in adjusted offensive efficiency in the KenPom ratings and No. 3 on defense. The Vols were No. 28 on offense in 2023-24 and No. 3 on defense. They haven’t finished outside the top five on defense since 2019-20, including a No. 1 ranking defensively in 2022-23.