Tennessee basketball is a top-5 team again.
The Vols (18-4, 5-4 SEC) are ranked No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY coaches poll and in the latest Associated Press poll. They rose four spots in both polls.
UT lost 78-73 against Kentucky before notching a 64-44 win against No. 6 Florida with only seven available scholarship players.
Tennessee hosts No. 16 Missouri (17-4, 6-2) on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Food City Center. It plays at Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5) on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN/ESPN2).
Tennessee basketball had five-week stint ranked No. 1
The Vols were ranked No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll.
UT moved up to No. 9 after starting the season 2-0 with wins against Gardner-Webb and at Louisville. It stayed No. 9 after moving to 4-0.
Tennessee rolled through the Baha Mar Championship with wins against Virginia and Baylor to reach 6-0 and rise to No. 6. It hopped to No. 3 after beating UT Martin before ascending to No. 1.
The Vols spent a program-record five weeks as the No. 1 team. They fell to No. 6 from the top spot after their 30-point loss at Florida on Jan. 7. They fell to No. 7 after losing at Vanderbilt on Jan. 18 and to No. 8 after losing at Auburn on Jan. 25.
Tennessee is on historic AP poll run
Tennessee has been ranked for 73 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press poll, the third-longest active streak in the nation. It has been ranked nonstop since the start of the 2021-22 season.
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The Vols have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll 34 times in the past seven seasons, including seven times this season. They had been ranked in the top five 17 times in the previous 70 years of the poll.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Where Tennessee is ranked in college basketball polls after Florida win
