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Tennessee basketball drops in both polls; Lady Vols debut in rankings

By Caleb Calhoun

Dec 8, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Colorado Buffaloes at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 8, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; General view during the first half of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Colorado Buffaloes at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Tennessee basketball men’s and women’s Volunteers moved in the AP and Coaches Top 25 rankings.

Despite getting back in the victory column with back to back wins over the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Texas A&M Aggies, Tennessee basketball did not look impressive enough to move up in the rankings. UT is now further away in both polls.

With a 9-1 record and 3-1 SEC record, Rick Barnes’ team moved to No. 10 in both rankings. That was a drop of one spot in the AP Poll and two spots in the Coaches Poll. They shot up to No. 19 in the RealTime RPI and remain No. 3 in the NET Rankings. Last week, the Vols beat the Hogs 79-74 and then A&M 68-54.

Due to COVID-related scheduling changes, Tennessee basketball will have a harder time moving up this week with their initial Tuesday game against the South Carolina Gamecocks and now their replacement Tuesday game  at the Vanderbilt Commodores both postponed. Vandy, who they play Saturday, is currently 4-5 and 0-3 in the SEC, so beating them wouldn’t help much anyway.

A bigger story, though, surrounded the Tennessee Lady Vols. After their second straight win over a top 25 team this year, Kellie Harper’s team debuted in the AP Poll for the first time this season at No. 23 with an 8-1 record and a 2-0 SEC record. They came in at No. 24 in the Coaches Poll one day later.

UT beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, who were No. 13 at the time and are now No. 17/16 with a 10-4 record, 88-73 after a 10-day layoff due to COVID issues, which resulted in them postponing their first two SEC games against Texas A&M and the Kentucky Wildcats. They then held off the LSU Tigers 64-63 on the road Sunday afternoon.

Before beating Arkansas, Rocky Top beat the Indiana Hoosiers back in December. Indiana, who is currently 7-3, is ranked No. 18  in both polls and was also ranked No. 13, just like Arkansas, when the Lady Vols beat them.

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Despite those wins, UT fell three spots in the NET rankings to No. 24 but is currently No. 58 in the RealTime RPI due to the No. 186 ranked strength of schedule. Still, Tennessee basketball will be back to being ranked on both the men’s and women’s sides, and that’s good news for the program going forward.

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