Tennessee Vols basketball sweeps Kentucky, Vanderbilt after losing to both in football

The Tennessee Vols swept the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores in basketball. That comes in the same year the Volunteers lost to both in football.

It’s time to check to see if pigs are flying. The Tennessee Vols sweeping the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores in basketball follows them losing to both in football.

The last time Tennessee football lost to Kentucky but Tennessee basketball swept Kentucky was 1977. They did it in 1976 as well.

But it almost never happens. Add in the twist of them losing to Vanderbilt in football and sweeping the Commodores in basketball, and you’ve got a bit of history on your hands. This has never happened in the history of the Tennessee Vols basketball program.

Now, the Vols did sweep Vanderbilt in basketball in 2005-2006 and 2012-2013 after losing to them in football. That’s not as uncommon of a thing.

Losing to Vanderbilt and Kentucky in football alone is something that’s rare. That hadn’t happened since 1964 before 2017, and 2017 was the first year Tennessee football went 4-8. So it took a major rare event to allow this situation to happen anyway.

But following that up with a sweep over Vanderbilt and Kentucky in men’s basketball is unheard of. As we mentioned, it has never happened in the history of the program.

Whether or not this represents a long-term trend or not remains to be seen. However, since Bruce Pearl took over for Tennessee basketball, that program has had more finishes in the Top 25 than Tennessee football.

In fact, Pearl’s team was better than the football team every year he was in Knoxville. The same holds true for all three of Cuonzo Martin’s teams.

Only in the last three years did football move back ahead of basketball. But now, under Rick Barnes, the basketball team is better than the football team once again.

Can Jeremy Pruitt turn this around for the Tennessee Vols and make both programs great along with the Lady Vols? Or will the Tennessee football program continue to slide. A rare year with these happenings means anything is possible. But it may not be something Vols fans want.

Most on Rocky Top are fine with being dominated by Kentucky in basketball and splitting the series with Vanderbilt as long as they dominate both in football. But losing to both in football is not worth sweeping both in basketball. As a result, this isn’t actually a good story for the Tennessee Vols. It’s just one that signals the entire nature of reality turning upside down.