Projecting The AP: Where Does Tennessee Land?

The Tennessee Volunteers suffered two gut-wrenching losses this week and are expected to drop in the latest AP Poll.

The last week has been extremely discouraging for Tennessee. They lost on buzzer-beating threes in consecutive games, a frustrating development for one of college basketball's hottest teams entering the week.

They have now lost three of their last four games, with the sole win coming against then-No. 25 Auburn in a dismal shooting performance from both sides. The Volunteers have lost to three unranked opponents in that stretch, and only one appears a sure-fire bet for the tournament.

Therefore, Tennessee fans should expect a significant fall in the AP Poll this week. They entered last week at No. 6, falling four spots after losing to the Florida Gators. While the consensus was somewhat down on Tennessee, everyone has sold their stock after the Saturday loss to Missouri.

Here is what the current top ten looks like.

• 1. Purdue
• 2. Houston
• 3. Alabama
• 4. Arizona
• 5. Texas
• 6. Tennessee
• 7. UCLA
• 8. Virginia
• 9. Kansas 
• 10. Marquette

Tennessee was the only top-ten squad to lose both games this week, and only two others lost one. Marquette lost to No. 21 UConn on Tuesday before rebounding with a win against Georgetown on Saturday, while Arizona lost to Stanford by nine on Saturday.

It seems increasingly likely that Tennessee will fall out of the top ten. While they are arguably the most efficient defensive team in college basketball, their offense has been lackluster for months. Some serious shot-creating concerns must be solved, namely, who can create when things go awry?

Currently, it's trendy to go against Tennessee. Losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri have clouded many people's memories; this is still the same team that looked dominant on the defensive end a few weeks ago.

Volunteer Country AP Projection: No. 13

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