Tennessee Basketball Receives MAJOR DROP in Rankings

The Tennessee Volunteers have seemingly dropped in the AP Poll as expected following their two straight losses.

Dec 2, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Felix Okpara (34) scans the court against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers have had some growing pains in the early portion of the 2025-2026 season, as they have already suffered three losses in their first ten games, which isn't typical of a Tennessee basketball team. However, they have lost to some of the more intriguing teams, as they lose to the Kansas Jayhawks, the Syracuse Orange, and the Illinois Fighting Illini.

The only thing that sucks for the Vols is the fact that their lone win that looks impressive at this point is the Vols win over the Houston Cougars, and maybe the win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

It is easy to think of this as growing pains, and that is the safe bet, as the Vols have a lot of things to like even in their losses, but they still have yet to hit their full stride. The Volunteers have the opportunity to do that after the break, but they won't have any games this week to try and up their ranking, which is also noted.

Prior to their two losses this week, the Tennessee Volunteers were ranked as the 13th-best team in the nation. The Vols will have the chance to learn from their losses, but they will have to do that down the poll, as they received a MAJOR drop in the rankings.

Tennessee Basketball Receives MAJOR DROP in Rankings

Dec 6, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (0) lays the ball in against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Vols are now ranked as the 20th team in the nation. This is a ranking that the Vols were hopeful would be a bit more generous, but this is now more fuel to the fire when they have to face more tough teams to close out their non-conference schedule. The Vols have to take on the Louisville Cardinals, the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, and the South Carolina State Bulldogs.

This is what will catapult them into their first conference game that will begin the month of January and the new year. The Vols will have a tough conference schedule, which will be unforgiving, and they will need to earn their wins in the conference games. They will be battling it out for a top seed in March Madness, as everyone expects them to be a top-four seed in a region per usual, and that is more likely than not. This will only happen if they start clicking, like we all know they can.

If the Vols are on all the right pages they will be one of the better teams in the nation.

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