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Tennessee basketball: Kentucky has no business being ahead of Vols in Week 3 rankings of 2021-2022

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; The Tennessee Volunteers bench reacts to play on the court during the second half against the North Carolina Tarheels at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; The Tennessee Volunteers bench reacts to play on the court during the second half against the North Carolina Tarheels at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mixed results in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off from this past weekend were naturally going to produced mixed rankings for Tennessee basketball in the third week of the season. The Vols lost 71-53 to the Villanova Wildcats before beating the North Carolina Tar Heels 89-72.

At the time, Nova was No. 5 and had one loss. UNC had lost the day before to the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue then beat Nova to win the tournament, meaning UT lost to a two-loss Power Five team and then beat a two-loss Power Five team.

That resulted in Tennessee basketball staying exactly where it was last week in the USA TODAY Amway Coaches Poll, at No. 17, and moving up two spots to No. 15 in the AP Poll. However, there are inexplicably four teams with a loss, or even two losses, and no Power Five wins like what UT has who are still ranked ahead of them.

Most notable among those teams are the Kentucky Wildcats. UK lost to the Duke Blue Devils to open the season 79-71. Since then, they haven’t beaten anybody of value to get to 3-1, escaping the Robert Morris Colonials, the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers and the Ohio Bobcats.

With that stellar of a resume, they are tied with the Alabama Crimson Tide for No. 10 in the AP Poll and tied with the Michigan Wolverines for No. 13 in the Coaches Poll. In what universe does that make sense?

Sure, you could say Duke is undefeated and that UT lost to a team with two losses. However, voters taking that into account wouldn’t be making lots of sense with that logic since they have that two-loss team in Villanova ranked No. 7 in both polls. In fact, they have Duke only one spot ahead of the min the Coaches Poll and two spots in the AP Poll.

It’s also inconsistent to focus on two losses when Michigan, one of the other teams ahead of the Vols in at least the Coaches Poll, has two losses as well. Simply put, it’s clear the voters don’t feel like Rick Barnes’ team has that much worse of a loss than Kentucky.

What’s also clear, though, is that Rocky Top has the best win of the two. Blowing out UNC has to count for something. Sure, that team dropped from the rankings this week after losing to UT and Purdue, but Purdue is No. 3 in the AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches Poll. Simply put, nobody would debate blowing out UNC is an elite win.

There’s a much greater disparity in the best win between the Vols and Kentucky than there is in their only loss. Other teams with losses, particularly Villanova, have a strong case, but Kentucky doesn’t have one at all.

The Texas Longhorns don’t have a quality win, but their only loss is to the No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. Meanwhile, the Illinois Fighting Illini’s one loss is by one point on the road to the Marquette Golden Eagles. Both could have a case, although UT should still be ahead of them, and it’s clear-cut with Illinois.

Michigan is at least lower than the Vols in the AP Poll, although them being ahead in the Coaches Poll makes no sense. That’s actually a bigger scandal than Kentucky. They have two losses and, unlike Villanova, no quality wins yet.

Still, for fans on Rocky Top, the story will be Kentucky. Tennessee basketball is getting no respect being behind that team three weeks into the season. That ranking is on name brand alone, and it’s embarrassing to give Kentucky that sort of benefit.

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