Tennessee basketball remains unranked in this week’s AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll despite defeating then-No. 17 Alabama 79-73 on the road Saturday night. Factoring in the “others receiving votes” section, Tennessee ranks No. 26 in the AP Poll and No. 27 in the Coaches Poll.
It’s the second straight week that Tennessee has not been ranked in the AP Poll after being ranked in the precious 90 polls. Tennessee boasted the nation’s second longest ranked streak before falling out of the poll.
There are just four SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll including No. 15 Arkansas, No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Florida and No. 23 Alabama. Tennessee is looking for its second straight ranked road win as they travel to Georgia on Wednesday night.
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The Vols had a midweek open date last week before knocking off Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. It was Tennessee’s first road win of the season and its second best victory behind its neutral site win over Houston. Nate Ament went for a career-high 29 points along with seven rebounds and three assists. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 24 points and four assists as Tennessee earned its fifth straight win over the Crimson Tide.
With the victory, Tennessee improved to 13-6 (3-3 SEC) on the season. It was a highly important victory coming off its disappointing home loss against Kentucky a week earlier. Blowing the double-digit second half lead against the Wildcats is what bumped the Vols out of the AP Poll.
Tennessee is back to a normal SEC schedule this week, facing off against Georgia on Wednesday night in Athens before hosting Auburn in Knoxville on Saturday night. The Auburn game marks the first time that Steven Pearl will return to his alma mater as Auburn’s head coach.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
