Tennessee basketball: Vols top 10 modern-era teams with under 20 wins

9. 1989-1990

16-14 (10-8)

NIT Second Round

Two years after that NIT rebound season, Tennessee basketball was in its first year under new head coach Wade Houston. With the hire of Houston, the Vols were able to lure his son, Allan Houston, out of Kentucky. This would be their first year together, and at the time, it seemed that brighter days were ahead.

Even with Houston averaging over 20 points a game as a freshman, the Vols got off to a rocky 2-3 start. They limped into SEC play with a 6-4 record. However, in conference play, they had a couple of impressive top 25 wins over the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs, and in the process they finished with a respectable 10-8 league record to end the regular season at 15-12.

After losing their first SEC Tournament game, which has been common practice for this program, the Vols received an NIT bid with a 15-13 record. In addition to two top 25 wins over Alabama and Georgia, they were able to beat another rival in their first NIT game. UT upset the Memphis Tigers on the road at the Mid-South Coliseum, avenging a loss from earlier in the year.

The Vols were then eliminated by another in-state foe, the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road, in a close contest, to once again finish with 16 wins. However, they did advance in the NIT and had some solid victories, and at the time, this seemed like just the beginning of a bright future.