Tennessee basketball: Duke has no business being ranked ahead of Vols

Tennessee basketball is behind the Duke Blue Devils in both the AP and Coaches Polls despite the Volunteers’ win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

After beating the No. 1 team in the country, Tennessee basketball jumped back into the Top 5 in both polls this week. The Vols moved up to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll, with the Virginia Cavaliers being ahead of them in one poll and behind them in the other.

That’s a fair discrepancy since UVA is 9-0. What’s also fair is that the Kansas Jayhawks, who beat the Vols in overtime, are No. 1 overall. But what’s ridiculous is that the Duke Blue Devils are ahead of UT in both polls.

Sorry, but this is ridiculous. The two teams have a common opponent in the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and Tennessee basketball won that game despite playing without one of its top three scorers. Duke lost. Both games were on neutral courts.

In what universe, then, could Duke be ahead of UT? The Vols’ only loss on the year is to Kansas, and as we said, the Jayhawks are No. 1. That was also in overtime on a neutral court. So by no measure should Duke be ahead of Tennessee.

But common opponent isn’t the only reason Duke is massively overrated at this moment. Look at their overall schedule. Tennessee has the No. 2 ranked strength of schedule according to the RealTime RPI. Duke, meanwhile, has the No. 37 ranked strength of schedule.

It is true that they have one more Top 25 victory, having beaten the Indiana Hoosiers and the Auburn Tigers. But Tennessee basketball did also beat the Louisville Cardinals and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. And it’s safe to say at this point, there was nothing impressive about Duke’s win over Kentucky.

Simply put, the Vols have a better loss, a better record against common opponents, and a tougher strength of schedule. Unless they play each other, at this moment, they should be ahead of Duke. For that matter, the same is true of Gonzaga.

Now, it’s fair to maybe have Virginia ahead of Tennessee. And the Michigan Wolverines and Nevada Wolf Pack are also two undefeated teams who have played tough enough schedules to maybe warrant consideration.

Putting Duke ahead of them, though, is flat-out embarrassing and just shows the media bias towards that program. Tennessee basketball has other things to focus on rather than just achieving a higher ranking in meaningless polls, but this is a column to point out how ridiculously inconsistent they are with their rankings.