Tennessee basketball may get longest SEC win streak of season by adding Vanderbilt

On Wednesday, Tennessee basketball got back in the win column by beating the South Carolina Gamecocks 93-73 at home. Facing the Kentucky Wildcats at home Saturday, a team that is 7-13 and 6-7 in the SEC, gives them a chance at a two-game winning streak.

However, news from the SEC on Friday will now give the Vols a chance to close out the regular season with their longest SEC winning streak of the year. UT will now face the Vanderbilt Commodores on the road this coming Wednesday, which was the initial date for the game. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

The matchup between Tennessee basketball and Vandy at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn. was moved up to Jan. 12 as COVID issues affecting other teams allowed the Vols and Commodores to face each other. However, Jerry Stackhouse’s team was then hit with a COVID issue. The game wasn’t officially moved back to its original date though. UT announced the news on Twitter.

What does this all mean? Well, at 15-5 and 8-5 in the SEC, the Vols finally have a chance to finish the season on a solid winning streak. Since SEC play began, their longest winning streak has been three games, and that was when the beat the Arkansas Razorbacks, Texas A&M Aggies and this same Vanderbilt team at home.

Now, Rick Barnes’ team may end up closing out the season with four straight games against teams with losing records. South Carolina is below .500 now after losing to the Vols. We already mentioned Kentucky’s record. Vanderbilt is 6-11 overall and 2-9 in SEC play.

At this point, there’s no excuse for UT to not enjoy a three-game winning streak. But then there is one more crucial game, their final regular season game. It’s against a team that has given them tons of problems in recent years.

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Rocky Top will travel to Auburn Arena in Alabama to take on the Auburn Tigers. Bruce Pearl’s program has owned the Vols in recent years, costing them a share of the SEC regular season title in 2019, the SEC Tournament title in 2019 and the SEC regular season title outright in 2018.

In fact, Tennessee basketball is on a five-game losing streak to Auburn. Last year, the Tigers swept the Vols, including winning the final game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. by a score of 85-63. That turned out to be the last game of the year for both teams, as it was their final regular season game and the SEC Tournament was canceled.

However, a win would’ve put UT a likely in for the NCAA Tournament, and the loss meant they would have had to make a run in the SEC Tournament. So had the tournament been played, that loss would have proven costly.

Why does all this matter? Well, in each of the previous three years, Auburn was a top 25 team and SEC title contender, making one Final Four. This year, though, they are on a postseason ban and currently 11-11 and 5-8 in the SEC. With the LSU Tigers on the road and Florida Gators at home up next, they could easily be under .500 when they get set to host UT.

As a result, the Vols should finally be able to get past their former coach. If that happens and there are no major hiccups until then, they will enter the SEC Tournament on a four-game winning streak with an 18-5 record and 11-5 SEC record.

This also means Tennessee basketball is certainly likely to get one of the top four seeds in the tournament, but if they don’t run the table, Florida could take that fourth spot. Continuing to win could boost them up to a No. 2 seed, though. Simply put, this added game gives them a very easy slate to close out the year. They need to take advantage.