It’s Monday, and that means a new AP Top 25 college basketball poll is upon us. The college basketball season is long, and there are many ups and downs, but recently, the downs have been a lot more prevalent for the Tennessee Volunteers. Rick Barnes' squad had high expectations coming into this year, and it's been a roller coaster through just a month.
Last week, Tennessee basketball was ranked 13th in the AP poll, but after dropping to Syracuse and Illinois, they have fallen seven spots in the last seven days and now land at 20th. The Volunteers are on a three-game losing streak and need to get the train back on track soon. Rick Barnes and co. are still 7-3 on the year with a win over an elite Houston team, but they need to snap out of this skid.
Tennessee basketball drops seven spots in new AP top 25
Tuesday night versus Syracuse, the Volunteers gave the ball away way too much. They had 17 turnovers, which turned into 24 points for the Orange. It was a back-and-forth game, but at the end of the day, Tennessee didn't make enough winning plays to capture the win.
Fast forward to Saturday in Nashville and some of the same storylines were present in Tennessee's 75-62 loss to Illinois. The Vols struggled defensively. Nate Ament got pushed around in the paint, and coverage errors led to threes.
The most disappointing part was that Tennessee was in the game, but could not buy a bucket. Rick Barnes had some intriguing words for his team after the game, saying, "I still think our guys don't understand what exactly goes into winning."
Given how the Vols have played over the last week, it's good news that they don't play until next Tuesday when they host a talented Louisville squad.
Look for Tennessee to take advantage of this practice time to help find its identity on offense and clean up errors on the defensive side of the ball.
Call me crazy but, I think the Vols can bounce back after a much needed break.