Where Tennessee Basketball is ranked after losing three straight games

Tennessee Basketball on Monday dropped seven spots to No. 20 in both the Associated Press Top 25 the Coaches Poll after losing two games last week and three straight since November 26.

The Vols (7-3) lost 75-62 to Illinois on Saturday night in Nashville, after a 62-60 loss at Syracuse on Tuesday. The skid started with an 81-76 loss to Kansas on the final day of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. 

Tennessee has now been ranked for 86 straight weeks in the AP Top 25, dating back to the first poll of the 2021-22 season. It’s the second-longest ranking streak in college basketball, trailing only Houston’s run of 112 straight weeks. 

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Louisville, December 16

The Vols are now off until December 16, when Louisville comes to Food City Center for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN. 

Tennessee has been ranked in the top-10 50 times during the ongoing streak with 18 straight top-10 rankings to close last season. The Vols have been ranked in the top-5 23 times, including 11 times last season. The lowest ranking during the streak was No. 24 in January 2022.

Rick Barnes has had his Tennessee Basketball team ranked in the top 25 140 times, dating back to 2017-18. 

Tennessee was ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll and No. 17 in the preseason Coaches Poll. The Vols dropped to No. 20 in the Week 2 and Week 3 AP Top 25 polls, then moved up to No. 17 and No. 13 over the last two weeks. 

The Coaches Poll moved Tennessee down to No. 18 in the Week 2 update, then up to No. 17, No. 16 and No. 13 over the last three weeks. 

Tennessee beat then-No. 3 Houston 76-73 on November 25 in Las Vegas, after beating Rutgers 85-60 a day earlier. The Vols led Kansas by 12 points with 15 minutes left in the Players Era third-place game, before the Jayhawks rallied to win. 

Tennessee ranked No. 18 in KenPom, No. 34 in NET

The season started with five straight wins in buy games, with Tennessee beating Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, Tennessee State, Rutgers and Houston. 

After five straight games away from home, the Vols have three home games, hosting Gardner Webb (December 21) and South Carolina State (December 30) after the Louisville game. SEC play starts at Arkansas on January 3.

Tennessee is ranked No. 18 overall in the KenPom.com ratings. The Vols are No. 12 in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.7) and No. 36 in adjusted offensive efficiency (118.9). 

The NET dropped Tennessee to No. 34, dropping 22 spots from last week’s first NET ranking update of the season. Tennessee is 1-3 in Quad 1 games, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4.