Tennessee basketball stayed put at No. 20 in the Nov. 17 AP Poll following its 3-0 start to the 2025-26 season. The Vols won their lone game last week, knocking off North Florida 99-66 on Wednesday night.
Rick Barnes’ 11th Tennessee team moved up one-spot to No. 17 in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll. The Vols were ranked 17th in the preseason poll before dropping one-spot like week.
This week marks the 83rd straight week that Tennessee has been in the AP Top 25 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 six SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll, coming behind No. 10 Florida, No. 11 Alabama and No. 12 Kentucky while coming in ahead of No. 21 Arkansas and No. 22 Auburn. The Vols also have non conference games remaining against No. 2 Houston, No. 6 Louisville and No. 8 Illinois.
More From RTI: Where Lady Vols Basketball is Ranked in the Updated AP Poll
The Vols took care of business in their lone game last week against North Florida, using a 15-0 run to end the first half to take control and coast the rest of the way. JP Estrella led the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Nate Ament totaled 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 21 points and seven assists.
The trio of Ament, Gillespie and Estrella has been Tennessee’s best through three games this season with all averaging over 15 points per game.
Rick Barnes’ team is back in action on Monday night for its first of two games this week. Tennessee faces former associate head coach Rob Lanier and his Rice team Monday before hosting Tennessee State on Thursday night. The matchup with the Tigers is Tennessee’s final matchup before they play six straight power five opponents starting with the three games at Players Era Festival next week in Las Vegas.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Rice is at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday night. Mike Morgan and Dane Bradshaw are on the call for the SEC Network.
