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Tennessee basketball: Vols jump 3 spots in AP Poll, 2 in Coaches’

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 21: Grant Williams #2 and Derrick Walker #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers react after a three-point basket against the Florida Gators in the second half of a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 21, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 62-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 21: Grant Williams #2 and Derrick Walker #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers react after a three-point basket against the Florida Gators in the second half of a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 21, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 62-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball jumped three spots in the AP Top 25 for this week. The Volunteers jumped two spots in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll rankings.

It helped that so many upsets happened over this past week. That was enough for Tennessee basketball to move back up in both polls despite an ugly win on Saturday over the Ole Miss Rebels, the worst team in the SEC.

The Vols jumped up to No. 16 in the AP Poll from their No. 19 ranking last week. They are two spots behind the No. 14 ranked Auburn Tigers, the highest ranked team in the SEC. In this poll, they are one spot behind the Michigan Wolverines and one spot ahead of the Rhode Island Rams.

Meanwhile, Tennessee basketball jumped just two spots in the USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll to No. 17. There, they remained behind Rhode Island but one spot ahead of the Clemson Tigers. The Auburn Tigers were No. 15 in that poll.

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One of the things that helped Tennessee was the Florida Gators beating Auburn over the weekend. That made their win over UF from the middle of the last week look more like a quality victory, which was huge.

The only other SEC team to reach the Top 25 was the Kentucky Wildcats, who came in at No. 25 in the Coaches’ Poll and No. 23 in the AP Poll. But Florida received votes in both polls along with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Meanwhile, the Texas A&M Aggies received votes in the Coaches’ Poll.

Despite lack of respect in the polls, the SEC looks a lot better in the RPI. Right now, the conference has seven teams in the Top 50, all of whom are likely to reach the NCAA Tournament. Then there is Florida at No. 56, the Mississippi State Bulldogs at No. 62, the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 70, the South Carolina Gamecocks at No. 74 and the LSU Tigers at No. 82.

So only Ole Miss and the Vanderbilt Commodores are completely out of the NCAA Tournament conversation unless they win the conference tournament. But everybody else has something to play for this season, showing the depth of the conference.

Tennessee basketball, meanwhile, is No 12 in the RPI with the No. 18 ranked strength of schedule. So that’s where they’re getting more love. But they are still climbing up those Top 25 rankings, and if they win both games this week, they could definitely be flirting with a Top 10 ranking. That makes this a big final week of the regular season.

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