Tennessee Men’s Basketball enters AP Top 25 for the first time this season

Tennessee debuted inside the men’s college basketball AP Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 24. The Vols picked up another solid win yesterday against Georgia Tech on the road. That win brought the Vols to 6-1, good enough for AP voters to take notice.

Rick Barnes and his team opened plenty of eyes over Thanksgiving in the Bahamas at the Battle 4 Atlantis. They upset Purdue, who have gone on to beat Arizona, Maryland, Louisville Cardinals and Northwestern since. The Volunteers hung with right with 4th ranked Villanova, then picked up a nice win over N.C. State to take 3rd place in the tournament.

The early season hot streak has moved Tennessee up to 24th in KenPom rankings. The Vols debuted as a ten seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracket projections last week. Things are going well, to say the least.

Assuming this group doesn’t fall flat during SEC play, this feels like a team that is going to be solidly in the NCAA Tournament field. They continue to prove that the media picking them to finish 13th in the SEC was an absolute sham.

Tennessee has Lipscomb up next on Saturday, then all eyes will turn to North Carolina. The No. 11 Tar Heels will make a trip to Knoxville on December 17th, so plan accordingly.

These Vols are legit. Hop on board.