The college basketball season is just days away as Tennessee opens up its 2025-26 season on Monday, Nov. 3 against Mercer at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
In the preseason, Tennessee defeated Ohio State in a closed door scrimmage before losing to Duke in an exhibition game in Knoxville. With the preseason in the rearview, the Vols now turn their attention to the dawn of a new season. Tennessee is looking to earn its third SEC Regular-Season Championship of the Rick Barnes era. What are the Vols chances according to the betting markets?
Tennessee is +850 to win the SEC Championship according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The Vols have slightly better odds according to the FanDuel Sportsbook, coming in at +800 to win the regular season title.
On DraftKings, Tennessee has the fourth best odds to win the SEC coming in behind Florida (+260), Kentucky (+280) and Arkansas (+550). The Vols have the fifth best odds according to FanDuel, coming in behind Florida (+260), Kentucky (+400), Arkansas (+600) and Alabama (+650).
More From RTI: Where Tennessee Ranks in Final Offseason Bracketology Before the Season
The SEC media is a bit higher on Tennessee entering the season, predicting the Vols to finish third in the conference this season behind Florida and Kentucky.
Tennessee comes in at No. 18 in the preseason AP Poll and No. 17 in the preseason Coaches Poll. 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.
The Vols non conference schedule includes matchups against Rutgers, Houston, Syracuse, Illinois and Louisville. Tennessee’s SEC slate will again be very difficult with multiple matchups with Kentucky, Alabama and Vanderbilt
