Vols at No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week
Courtesy / UT Athletics

Vols at No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week

Posted on December 31, 2024

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is ranked atop the nation’s major polls for the fourth consecutive week.

Tennessee (12-0) is once again listed first in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as released Monday afternoon.

This is the ninth time, across three campaigns, the Volunteers come in at first overall in AP Poll. They previously held the top position once in 2007-08 and four times in 2018-19.

Nine of Tennessee’s 11 all-time weeks in the AP top three, including eight of its nine first-place positionings, are during head coach Rick Barnes‘ 10 years on Rocky Top. One of just seven teams to claim the top spot in the AP Poll in more than one of the last seven seasons, the Volunteers are 26-4 all-time while holding an AP top three spot (22-2 in the Barnes era), including 12-2 at first nationally (11-1 in the Barnes era).

This is the 68th consecutive week Tennessee is listed in the AP Poll, a streak spanning four campaigns and dating to the 2021-22 preseason release. The ledger is 31 weeks above the program’s prior top mark and is the third-longest active streak in the country, trailing only Houston (94) and Kansas (73). No other schools are at even 50-plus, while the next closest SEC team, Kentucky (30), ranks eighth in streak length and is 38 behind the Volunteers.

Tennessee is among the AP top 15 for the 42nd time in the last 45 releases, dating to Nov. 28, 2022. This is the 64th AP top-10 spot for the Volunteers under Barnes, including its 32nd top-five placement, with the latter mark nearly double the program’s entire total (17) before his 2015 hire. Tennessee also now has over four times as many top-two rankings under Barnes (nine) as it had before his arrival (two).

Barnes has led the Volunteers to an AP top-five spot in each of the last four years, a streak only Kansas can match. He has also steered Tennessee to an AP top-six position in each of the past five years, a ledger equaled by just Alabama, Houston and Kansas.

Tennessee defeated Middle Tennessee State, 82-64, last Monday night in its lone game of the week. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier paced the team with 23 points, while senior guard Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and a career-high 15 assists.

With one ballot missing from in the AP voting, the Volunteers earned 1,504 of a possible 1,525 points and received 41 of the 61 first-place nods. In the Coaches Poll, they replicated their numbers from last week, compiling 764 of a possible 775 points, including 20 of the 31 first-place nods.

The Volunteers head a batch of 10 SEC teams in the top 25 of each poll, nine of which are ranked in both. They are featured alongside second-ranked Auburn, No. 5/6 Alabama, No. 6/5 Florida, No. 10/11 Kentucky, No. 12/10 Oklahoma, No. 13/12 Texas A&M, No. 17/16 Mississippi State and No. 24/23 Ole Miss in both polls, while Arkansas in No. 23 in the AP Poll and receiving votes in the Coaches Poll. Additionally, Georgia and Missouri are included in the receiving votes section from both outlets.

Still one of four remaining unbeaten teams nationally, the Volunteers remain second in the NCAA NET rankings and third on KenPom’s list.

Tennessee continues competition Tuesday at 3 p.m. when it hosts Norfolk State at Food City Center in its non-conference finale, live on SEC Network+.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

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Vols at No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week
Courtesy / UT Athletics

Vols at No. 1 for Fourth Straight Week

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Jim Kelly • 0 Comments

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is ranked atop the nation’s major polls for the fourth consecutive week.

Tennessee (12-0) is once again listed first in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as released Monday afternoon.

This is the ninth time, across three campaigns, the Volunteers come in at first overall in AP Poll. They previously held the top position once in 2007-08 and four times in 2018-19.

Nine of Tennessee’s 11 all-time weeks in the AP top three, including eight of its nine first-place positionings, are during head coach Rick Barnes‘ 10 years on Rocky Top. One of just seven teams to claim the top spot in the AP Poll in more than one of the last seven seasons, the Volunteers are 26-4 all-time while holding an AP top three spot (22-2 in the Barnes era), including 12-2 at first nationally (11-1 in the Barnes era).

This is the 68th consecutive week Tennessee is listed in the AP Poll, a streak spanning four campaigns and dating to the 2021-22 preseason release. The ledger is 31 weeks above the program’s prior top mark and is the third-longest active streak in the country, trailing only Houston (94) and Kansas (73). No other schools are at even 50-plus, while the next closest SEC team, Kentucky (30), ranks eighth in streak length and is 38 behind the Volunteers.

Tennessee is among the AP top 15 for the 42nd time in the last 45 releases, dating to Nov. 28, 2022. This is the 64th AP top-10 spot for the Volunteers under Barnes, including its 32nd top-five placement, with the latter mark nearly double the program’s entire total (17) before his 2015 hire. Tennessee also now has over four times as many top-two rankings under Barnes (nine) as it had before his arrival (two).

Barnes has led the Volunteers to an AP top-five spot in each of the last four years, a streak only Kansas can match. He has also steered Tennessee to an AP top-six position in each of the past five years, a ledger equaled by just Alabama, Houston and Kansas.

Tennessee defeated Middle Tennessee State, 82-64, last Monday night in its lone game of the week. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier paced the team with 23 points, while senior guard Zakai Zeigler had 17 points and a career-high 15 assists.

With one ballot missing from in the AP voting, the Volunteers earned 1,504 of a possible 1,525 points and received 41 of the 61 first-place nods. In the Coaches Poll, they replicated their numbers from last week, compiling 764 of a possible 775 points, including 20 of the 31 first-place nods.

The Volunteers head a batch of 10 SEC teams in the top 25 of each poll, nine of which are ranked in both. They are featured alongside second-ranked Auburn, No. 5/6 Alabama, No. 6/5 Florida, No. 10/11 Kentucky, No. 12/10 Oklahoma, No. 13/12 Texas A&M, No. 17/16 Mississippi State and No. 24/23 Ole Miss in both polls, while Arkansas in No. 23 in the AP Poll and receiving votes in the Coaches Poll. Additionally, Georgia and Missouri are included in the receiving votes section from both outlets.

Still one of four remaining unbeaten teams nationally, the Volunteers remain second in the NCAA NET rankings and third on KenPom’s list.

Tennessee continues competition Tuesday at 3 p.m. when it hosts Norfolk State at Food City Center in its non-conference finale, live on SEC Network+.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.