Tennessee basketball fell four-spot to No. 8 in the March 10 AP Poll at the conclusion of the regular season. The Vols have spent the entirety of the regular season ranked in the AP Top 25 for the third straight season.
It was a so-so week for Tennessee to end the regular season. The Vols fell to Ole Miss 78-76 on Wednesday night when Jaemyn Brakefield’s second chance bucket gave the Rebels the lead in the game’s final 10 seconds. Tennessee bounced back on Saturday night, using a big second half from Chaz Lanier to knock off South Carolina 75-65 on senior day.
The Vols fell below Alabama, St. John’s and Michigan State following their 1-1 week. Alabama split games against Florida and Auburn while St. John’s and Michigan State each went 2-0 with top 25 wins.
Tennessee is one of seven SEC teams in this week’s poll, coming in behind No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Alabama and ahead of No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 21 Missouri.
More From RTI: Seniors Have Given Tennessee Basketball Best Stretch In Program History, Can They Win More?
The Vols finished the regular season 25-6 (12-6 SEC) and will likely be a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament later this month. The Vols suffered a blowout loss at Florida but otherwise was competitive in every game, losing in the final seconds at Auburn, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss while losing competitively twice to Kentucky.
Tennessee’s first loss against Kentucky was their only defeat at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center this season. They earned marquee victories over both Florida and Alabama at home and impressive road wins at Louisville, Illinois and Texas A&M.
Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team now turns its attention to the postseason and this week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville. The Vols begin their postseason at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon. Tennessee is already in the quarterfinals and will face one of Vanderbilt, Texas or Texas A&M in its first game. If the Vols advance to the semifinals, they’ll likely face Auburn in the semifinals.
Tennessee enters conference tournament week with little to no chance of earning a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament but battling Alabama for the top two seed. The top two seed will be in the Midwest Region with Houston while the other will be in the East Region with Duke.
