It appears as though a 2-0 week with a win over a then-#15 Missouri team and an 18-point road win wasn’t enough for the Tennessee Volunteers to keep their spot in the AP poll.
The Vols fell from 4 to 5 in Monday’s new AP Poll. Florida – who Tennessee beat 64-44 just 9 days ago, leapt the Vols. Tennessee did manage to hold firm in the Coaches Poll at 4.
BREAKING: College Basketball AP Poll
First Place Votes: Auburn (34), Alabama (23), Florida (3), Tennessee (1)https://t.co/r0nuBzTJA9 pic.twitter.com/4dQPIqk1yo
— On3 (@On3sports) February 10, 2025
Florida defeated Auburn 90-81 on Saturday at Auburn, which apparently was enough to give the Gators the nod over UT. What’s interesting is that Auburn didn’t drop with that loss. It seems just about every team drops when they lose at the top spot – that’s certainly been the case for the Vols – but the 21-3 Tigers got the benefit of the doubt from the media. They didn’t get that same benefit of the doubt from the coaches, who voted Alabama #1.
Oh, yeah, and Bama and Auburn play this weekend for what’ll likely be the #1 spot in both polls, depending on how mid-week action goes.
Duke lost at Clemson, but let’s face it, Duke is Duke, and the media – as they’re prone to do, remembered that and kept the Blue Devils ahead of Tennessee in a third-place tie with Florida. The coaches dropped them below the Vols this week.
Tennessee has a chance to move back up this week with games at #15 Kentucky on Tuesday and at home against Vanderbilt on Saturday.