Tennessee basketball dropped two spots to No. 20 in the AP Poll following the opening week of the 2025-26 season. The Vols jumped Arkansas in the rankings but fell behind Michigan State, North Carolina and Gonzaga.
Michigan State defeated Arkansas while North Carolina knocked off Kansas and Gonzaga routed Oklahoma during the opening week of the season.
Tennessee dropped one-spot from No. 17 to No. 18 in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll. Michigan State jumped Tennessee while the Vols stayed in front of North Carolina and Gonzaga.
The Vols are one of six SEC teams in the AP Top 25 this week coming in behind No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 10 Florida while coming in ahead of No. 21 Arkansas and No. 22 Auburn. Tennessee also has non conference matchups scheduled against No. 1 Houston, No. 12 Louisville and No. 14 Illinois.
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Tennessee went 2-0 in the first week of the season, earning wins over Mercer and Northern Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The Vols were sloppy in their 76-61 season-opening win over Mercer before dominating Northern Kentucky 95-56 on Saturday afternoon.
It was a strong opening week of the season for five-star freshman wing Nate Ament who averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and three assists in the two games. Redshirt sophomore JP Estrella also started his season off strong by averaging 14.5 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench.
The Vols have just one game this week, hosting North Florida on Wednesday night in Knoxville. Tennessee then faces Rice and Tennessee State the following week before facing its first true tests of the 2025 season the following week in Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival.
Tipoff between Tennessee and North Florida is at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. The SEC Network+ is broadcasting the game.
