Tennessee Basketball: 5 Things the Volunteers need for Christmas in 2018

By Adam Childs | Dec 20, 2018

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 09: Admiral Schofield #5 and Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate in the stands after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Tennessee Basketball is enjoying a great start to the season that has included upsetting the Gonzaga Bulldogs. What else could they want as Christmas rolls around?

Tennessee Basketball was one of the big surprises of last college basketball season and won the regular season SEC championship before losing to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament championship game. They would carry that to a number three seed in the NCAA tournament before falling in the second round to the Cinderella story of Loyola-Chicago.

Many expected the Volunteers to be very good this year as they had them as a consensus top ten team. But with a tough non-conference schedule that included Kansas and Gonzaga, it was still a wait and see with this team. Well, Rick Barnes had his team ready and just missed beating Kansas in overtime and then holding of the number one ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs a few weeks later.

This team has now shown that they are going to be a force all year and look like the early favorite to win the SEC. Tennessee has not been this excited about their basketball team in years and they are dreaming big.

The Volunteers hit a home run when they were able to gobble up Barnes after Texas fired him and it has shown. Gone are the years of mediocre basketball in Knoxville. This team looks like a national title contender and should be one of the favorites heading into the tournament.

Even with the great start, there are still things the Tennessee basketball team and fans can wish for this holiday season. Here we take a look at five things that would make this season even better.

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