Tennessee basketball moved up one-spot to No. 5 in the New Years Day Associated Press Poll, the highest the Vols have been ranked this season.
The Vols didn’t play a game between Christmas and New Years but moved up one-spot in the poll after previously No. 4 Arizona suffered an 18-point loss against Stanford. Now in the top five, Tennessee ranks behind Purdue, Kansas, Houston and UConn in the top 25.
Tennessee is the highest ranked SEC team in this week’s AP Poll before conference play officially begins next Saturday. The Vols come in ahead of No. 6 Kentucky, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 25 Auburn. Texas A&M, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi State also received votes in the Jan. 1 poll.
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Amidst Unprecedented Run Of AP Poll Success
After a near two-week hiatus, Tennessee basketball returns to the court on Tuesday night when they host Norfolk State at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in its final non conference game of the regular season.
Tennessee opens up SEC at home on Saturday where they’ll host unbeaten and 22nd-ranked Ole Miss in an important early season matchup.
If the Vols take care of business against Norfolk State, they’ll enter conference play 10-3 with their losses coming against No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Kansas and No. 8 North Carolina. Tennessee boasts wins against No. 9 Illinois and No. 21 Wisconsin.
