All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee basketball: Looking at last 5 seasons Vols were in top 5

By Caleb Calhoun

MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Chris Lofton #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup around Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. Volunteers beat the Tigers 66-62. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Chris Lofton #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup around Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. Volunteers beat the Tigers 66-62. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Photo by Jamie Squire /Allsport
Photo by Jamie Squire /Allsport /

3. 1999-2000

26-7 (12-4 in SEC); SEC Regular Season Championship; NCAA Sweet Sixteen

Highest ranking: No. 5

The year before the epic collapse that wrecked expectations, Tennessee basketball had enjoyed its most successful season in school history to that point. So it’s no surprise that this team also made it into the top 5.

For context, the expectations were high this year as well, as all the factors were in play from the last slide with the exception of everybody just being a year younger. Coming off a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament, these guys opened the year ranked No. 19 in the nation.

An 11-0 start could only get them to No. 11 because of how soft the early part of their schedule was, and a 20-point loss to the eventual Elite Eight Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, led by Bill Self, knocked them back to No. 16. But then came SEC play, and the Vols jumped out to a 9-2 start in the conference to get them to 21-3 overall.

The highlights were two overtime victories over the Florida Gators, who were in the Top 12 both times, a road win over the No. 21 ranked LSU Tigers and a 29-point home win over the No. 7 ranked Auburn Tigers. By the time they reached that 21-3 record, they had made it to No. 5.

But, in similar fashion to 2007-2008, they couldn’t maintain the momentum after cracking their peak. The Vols suffered a 13-point surprising home loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores after that second Florida win, and even with a win at home over the No. 18 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, that loss was enough to knock them out of the top 5.

Still, they won two of their final three and a share of the SEC title. So they reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed and made the Sweet Sixteen. A late-game collapse against the North Carolina Tar Heels kept them from their first Elite Eight. Nonetheless, this season was a success. And it wasn’t a fluke for them to reach the top 5 at least once during that time period.

Home/Vols Basketball