Tennessee basketball: Vols top 10 modern-era teams with under 20 wins
1. 1979-1980
18-11 (12-6)
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
Entering his second year, Don DeVoe shocked the world by winning the SEC Tournament championship his first year on the job, two years removed from Ray Mears and the Ernie and Bernie show. This year would begin another era of Tennessee basketball.
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Dale Ellis arrived as a freshman and was the future. However, this year, post players Reggie Johnson and Howard Wood were the leaders of the program. They started off strong, winning their opener against the No. 9 St. John’s Red Storm. After roaring off to a 12-3 start and 5-0 start, which included a win over the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, this team reached the top 20.
However, after that, they hit a rough dose of reality and lost five straight. Four of those five were either on the road or against top 25 teams, but it was still a brutal road. The Vols rebounded, though, to win five of their final six, finishing 17-9 and 12-6 in SEC play.
Despite losing their first SEC Tournament game, the Vols still had a good enough team to reach the NCAA Tournament. They then won their first game to advance to the Round of 32 before falling to the Maryland Terrapins. That ended their season but set the stage for the big years ahead with Ellis, when they would reach the Sweet 16 and win the SEC in separate years.
Vol basketball's top five wins of 2019-2020. dark. Next
Not only making the NCAA Tournament but advancing in the tournament makes this by far Tennessee basketball’s best team to come up short of 20 wins in the modern era. Only three such teams made the tournament, and this team advanced, so it clearly is No. 1 on this list. With three future NBA players on the team and one future all-star, the talent was there as well.