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Where Tennessee Basketball is ranked in the first NET update of the season

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey21 hours agoGrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball came in at No. 12 in the first NET rankings of the season, released by the NCAA on Monday morning. The Vols are 1-1 in Quad 1 games, 4-0 in Quad 3 and 2-0 in Quad 4. 

Michigan topped the NET ranking at No. 1 after rolling through the Player Era Festival last week.

Duke is No. 2, followed by No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 8 UConn, No. 9 Louisville and No. 10 Michigan State. Indiana is one spot ahead of the Vols at No. 11.

Up Next: Tennessee at Syracuse, Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Tennessee (7-1), after playing three games in three days at the Players Era event in Las Vegas, goes to Syracuse (4-3) on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2 in an ACC/SEC Challenge game at the JMA Wireless Dome. 

The Vols face Illinois on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville then host Louisville on December 16 at Food City Center. Louisville is No. 9 in the NET and Illinois is No. 24. 

Tennessee beat Rutgers 85-60 last Monday, beat Houston 76-73 on Tuesday then lost 81-76 to Kansas on Wednesday. Houston debuted at No. 18 in the NET, one spot behind Kansas at No. 17. 

SEC teams behind Vanderbilt and Tennessee in the NET are No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Kentucky, No. 19 LSU, No. 30 Auburn, No. 33 Florida, No. 36 Georgia, No. 45 Arkansas, No. 51 Missouri, No. 68 Texas, No. 79 Texas A&M, No. 94 Oklahoma, No. 96 Ole Miss, No. 99 South Carolina and No. 172 Mississippi State. 

Where Tennessee is ranked in the KenPom ratings

Tennessee is ranked No. 13 overall in the KenPom.com ratings after the 7-1 start to the season. The Vols are ranked No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.3) and No. 18 in adjusted offensive efficiency (121.7).

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.