All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee basketball: Ranking Vols finish to every season in 2010s decade

By Caleb Calhoun

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
9 of 11
Next
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

3. 2017-2018

26-9 (13-5)

NCAA Tournament Second Round; SEC Championship; No. 13 AP; No. 16 Coaches

Welcome to the elite seasons on Rocky Top. Coming off his .500 season in 2016-2017, Rick Barnes had everybody back except for Robert Hubbs III and then added four-star Yves Pons and graduate transfer James Daniel. Still, Tennessee basketball was picked to finish 13th in SEC play.

This team proved that to be wrong from the start, scoring a huge win over the No. 18 ranked Purdue Boilermakers in the Battle 4 Atlantis. They got to 9-2 before conference play began. Despite losses to the Arkansas Razorbacks and Auburn Tigers to open the SEC schedule, they eventually got red-hot.

UT swept the Kentucky Wildcats, beat the Florida Gators, and scored quality wins at the Iowa State Cyclones in the SEC-Big 12 challenge, at the Mississippi State Bulldogs and at home against the Texas A&M Aggies.

The Vols earned a share of the regular season SEC Championship with the Auburn Tigers. They then made it to the SEC Tournament championship game, losing to Kentucky due to Admiral Schofield being hurt. In the NCAA Tournament, they were without Kyle Alexander, so they lost in the second round to Loyola-Chicago, who would make the Final Four.

Yes, the 2013-2014 team made the Sweet Sixteen. But as we said, how far you go isn’t the only barometer. This team won a championship and finished ranked in the top 20 of both polls, so it earned a spot a bit higher on the list.

Home/Vols Basketball