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Tennessee basketball: 5 reasons Vols should win the SEC Tournament

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 02: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates in the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 02, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 02: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates in the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 02, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images /

5. A massive drop in the rankings should motivate Rick Barnes’s team.

Tennessee basketball had a historically great season. They spent four weeks at No. 1 and 11 straight weeks in the top 5. But their lowest ranking all year comes this week, as they are entering the SEC Tournament.

The Vols are now No. 8 in both polls and have fallen out of the No. 1 seed discussion, while the Kentucky Wildcats are four spots ahead of them at No. 4 despite the two teams having the same conference record and splitting their match-ups.

Before that, the Vols’ lowest ranking was No. 7, which they held for a week. As a result, they should use this for an added level of motivation during the tournament. After all, such disrespect for a team that is 27-4.

Only two other Power Five teams have more than 26 wins and fewer than five losses, and they are ranked No. 1 and No. 2. But the Vols have to be all the way down at No. 8, and many people have dropped them out of the No. 1 seed talk.

That all seems pretty extreme for a team that actually beat the current No. 1 ranked team in the nation earlier in the year and is a week removed from a 19-point win over UK, who is No. 4. But it’s also a big advantage. The Vols have too often slept their way through games this year because of the easy part of their SEC schedule. Now they have respect to play for again.

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