NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Indiana, Marquette quietly rising
5. Tennessee Volunteers
Last Week: No. 8
Nobody in the country picked up a better win this week than Tennessee. Already a top-10 team, the Volunteers took down Gonzaga, my previous No. 1 overall team, at a neutral-site thanks to a huge performance from Admiral Schofield. One of the top players in the entire SEC, Schofield lit up the scoreboard from beyond the arc with 6-for-10 shooting from distance to lead the way with 30 points. This performance solidified Tennessee, whose only loss to this point came against Kansas, as one of the top-5 teams in the nation.
An extremely well-rounded team, the Volunteers have already shown that they can win with their offense or defense in the early going this year. They currently rank in the top-50 of the nation in both points scored (82.8) and points allowed (64.8) so far this season. And considering they have played the 43rd-toughest schedule in the nation, these numbers are extremely impressive. They have taken care of some really solid teams to this point.
And while the Volunteers have not played a true road game yet, that is about to change when they take on Memphis later this week. The Tigers have not been extremely successful so far this year but they have the talent, and fanbase, to make life difficult for the Volunteers.