Tennessee basketball is just three weeks away from tipping off its 2025-26 season against Mercer. With the season nearing, the official preseason AP Top 25 poll is out. Tennessee landed at No. 18 nationally and No. 5 in the SEC in the preseason poll.
It’s the sixth straight season that Tennessee basketball has landed in the preseason AP Poll. The Vols landed at No. 12 last season before finishing the year at No. 5 in the final AP Poll.
The Vols have now been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 81 straight weeks dating back to the preseason poll of the 2021-22 season. There’s not a single player on Tennessee’s roster who has been a member of a Vol basketball team that wasn’t ranked in the AP Poll. Tennessee’s ranked streak is the nation’s second longest active streak.
Tennessee is one of seven SEC teams in the Preseason AP Poll, coming in behind No. 3 Florida, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 14 Arkansas and No. 15 Alabama and ahead of No. 20 Auburn. Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Oklahoma also received votes.
More From RTI: Pair of Tennessee Basketball Players Named to Preseason All-SEC Team
Analytic based sites are a bit higher on Tennessee than the voters. KenPom has Tennessee No. 9 in its preseason rankings, BartTorvik has Tennessee No. 13 in its preseason rankings and EvanMiya has Tennessee No. 15 in its preseason rankings.
Expectations are again high for Tennessee entering the season despite losing four of five starters and five of its top seven players from last season’s Elite Eight team. Ament and Gillespie are the headliners but Tennessee’s front court as the potential to be on the SEC’s best. Shooting guard and overall floor spacing remain the biggest questions for Tennessee entering the season.
