After their big win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Tennessee Volunteers ascended up the AP Top 25 to 3rd. The Vols, who also received a first place vote, sit the highest among the four SEC teams to make this week’s AP Top 25.
The 3rd spot in the polls is still the highest ranking that Tennessee has had since they were No. 1 in the country back in 2008. At this point, they only sit behind the Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils, who naturally accumulated the most first-place votes out of anybody in the polls this week. They don’t have any opportunities at quality wins the rest of the way in the nonconference, but they certainly still have the chance to keep on ascending.
The Auburn Tigers are in the Top 10 still along with Tennessee at this juncture. The Tigers remained at 8th after going 2-0 against the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs and the Dayton Flyers. Auburn has the week off but will be back in action in Birmingham when they face the UAB Blazers this Saturday at Legacy Arena.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs leapt up from 22nd to 18th. The Bulldogs defeated McNeese State Cowboys and then took down the Clemson Tigers at the Prudential Center as part of the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, New Jersey. Ben Howland’s bunch is 8-1 at this point and will welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday for another opportunity at a quality W.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky Wildcats took a big tumble after falling to the Seton Hall Pirates at MSG on Saturday. The Wildcats fell all the way to 19th after sitting 9th going into last week. It’s perhaps surprising that they’re even in the poll with no real quality W’s and two losses to Duke and Seton Hall. Nevertheless, we’ll see how things play out for UK going forward.