Tennessee basketball moved up in the rankings again.
The Vols are the No. 4 team in the USA TODAY coaches poll and the Associated Press poll on the heels of another signature win. Jahmai Mashack hit a 35-foot 3-pointer to lift Tennessee to a 79-76 win against Alabama on Saturday after they beat LSU 65-59 on Tuesday.
The Vols (24-5, 11-5 SEC) close the regular season at Ole Miss (20-9, 9-7) on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and against South Carolina (12-17, 2-14) on Saturday (2 p.m., SEC Network)
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. They jumped to No. 4 after beating Florida 64-44 and held the spot the following week. They slipped to No. 6 after losing at Kentucky.
UT jumped back into the top 5 after winning at Texas A&M.
Tennessee is on historic AP poll run
Tennessee has been ranked for 77 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press poll, the second-longest active streak in the nation. It has been ranked nonstop since the start of the 2021-22 season. The previous program record for consecutive weeks ranked was 37.
The Vols have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll 37 times in the past seven seasons, including 10 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.
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