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Tennessee basketball: Five best things about Vols’ dominant win vs. Kentucky

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James (30) with a dunk during the NCAA college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.Px Uthoops Kentucky
Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James (30) with a dunk during the NCAA college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.Px Uthoops Kentucky /
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Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and Kentucky head coach John Calipari meet as the NCAA college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers comes to an end in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.Px Uthoops KentuckySyndication The Knoxville News Sentinel
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and Kentucky head coach John Calipari meet as the NCAA college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers comes to an end in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022.Px Uthoops KentuckySyndication The Knoxville News Sentinel /

1. SEC and national implications

A win over a top five team always goes far in terms of what it means for the season, and that’s what Tennessee basketball can celebrate the most out of Tuesday night’s win. We’ve already mentioned the Vols’ winning streak, but this was a huge spike for their resume.

Now, Rocky Top is 5-6 in Quadrant 1 games based on the NCAA NET rankings. With no losses below Quadrant 1, that puts them in great shape for the future. They also now have two wins over teams currently in the top five, as the Arizona Wildcats are also there. Four of their six losses are currently to teams in the top 25 of both polls and five are to teams ranked in at least one poll.

Simply put, this resume is incredible. UT was already looking at a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 16 ranked team in the AP Poll and No. 13 ranked team in the Coaches Poll. Now they are looking at pushing for a 3-seed or 2-seed.

Beyond just the national implications, though, this is a huge deal for SEC play as well. The Vols have now tied Kentucky for second in the SEC, as both teams have a 10-3 record. They also get to face Auburn later in the year, whom they are two games behind. If they can win out and Auburn can lose somewhere else, the SEC regular season title is in play.

Next. Vol basketball's all-time depth chart. dark

Taking all this into account, it’s clear the Kentucky win did a lot for this team. However, they have almost as big a test Saturday when they visit the Arkansas Razorbacks. If Tennessee basketball wins that one, they’ll almost certainly be a top five team Monday.

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