Vols Earn 60th Consecutive AP Top-20 Ranking

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball team remained in the top 20 of both major national polls after the opening week of the 2025-26 campaign, as released Monday afternoon.

Tennessee (2-0) dropped two spots to No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and moved down one position to No. 18 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

This is the 82nd straight AP top 25 placement for the Volunteers, dating to the 2021-22 preseason poll. That figure is 46 greater than the previous program high of 37 weeks, set from March 1999 to Feb. 2001.

The Volunteers' 82-week streak is the second-longest active mark in the country, behind only Houston (108). No other school is at even 65-plus weeks, while the closest SEC school is fifth-place Kentucky at 44 weeks, 38 shy of Tennessee.

Head coach Rick Barnes has his team in the AP top 20 for the 77th time during the 82-week streak, with this the 60th consecutive such nod for the Volunteers.

Barnes has led Tennessee to 136 total AP top-25 rankings in his 11-year tenure, all since 2017-18.

The Volunteers went 2-0 in the first week of action, registering a pair of home victories. They opened the season with a 76-61 triumph Monday night against Mercer behind 18 points from freshman forward Nate Ament in his collegiate debut.

Tennessee then turned in a thorough 95-56 win Saturday afternoon versus Northern Kentucky, with Ament registering a game-best 23 points. He added eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, while senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie also reached the 20-point mark.

The Volunteers racked up 456 points in the AP Poll balloting, just six fewer than they had in the Oct. 13 preseason poll and 132 more than No. 21 Arkansas. They earned 282 points in the Coaches Poll voting, only six behind No. 17 Michigan State.

There are again six SEC teams in the top 25 of both polls, as Tennessee is joined by No. 8/9 Alabama, No. 9/8 Kentucky, No. 10 Florida, No. 21 Arkansas and No. 22/25 Auburn. Additionally, four schools—Vanderbilt, Missouri, Ole Miss and Georgia—are receiving votes in each poll, while Mississippi State and Texas earned points in the AP Poll.

Tennessee continues play Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Food City Center, where it hosts North Florida, live on SEC Network+.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Nate Ament

Ja’Kobi Gillespie

University of Tennessee Athletics