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

7. 2002-2003

17-12 (9-7)

NIT First Round

Buzz Peterson entered his second season coming off a forgivable 15-16 opening campaign. That year, he had the No. 6 strength of schedule, had to replace two leading scorer and also lost Marcus Haislip for part of the year due to academic issues while losing Ron Slay for the second half of the season due to an injury. Eight losses were by three points or less, and five with a last-second shot.

Entering this year, however, the loss of Haislip and Vincent Yarbrough lowered expectations, even with Slay and Jon Higgins returning. A rocky start that involved losses at the Texas A&M Aggies and West Virginia Mountaineers still had some highlights, including the half-court three by Higgins to beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 70-69. Entering SEC play at 7-2, UT started things off 2-3.

After a two-game losing streak to the No.19 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 9 Louisville Cardinals, though, they hit their stride. The Vols reeled off a six-game winning streak with a key road win over the Auburn Tigers and two top 25 home wins, one over Georgia and the No. 4 ranked Florida Gators. At 15-6, they were a tournament lock. However, a four-game losing streak followed.

They finished with two wins, including a top 25 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but losing their first SEC Tournament game made the one of the first four teams out. Amidst the disappointment, they lost their first NIT game to the Georgetown Huskies. That and an easy schedule is why they are down here, but they did overachieve. It’s the one time Peterson did that.