Tennessee Basketball: 5 Things the Volunteers need for Christmas in 2018
By Adam Childs
4. A hot start to SEC play
Tennessee finishes its non-conference part of the schedule with games against Samford, Wake Forest, and Tennessee Tech to end the calendar year. Those should be easy wins with Wake Forest the only posing much a threat and they have not been very good this year. They will then try and repeat as regular season champs in the SEC.
If there was any question coming into the season if the Vols could repeat Tennessee has proven those to be false. They are without question the favorite as conference play starts. But we all know how quickly things can change. The Volunteers have done a great job so far outside of the SEC but they need to prove early that they are the kings of the conference.
Their schedule sets up very nicely for them to get off to a fast start. They play 12 conference games before they play a team currently ranked. They do play Kentucky twice but they only play Auburn once and that is the last game of the year. The only other ranked team is Mississippi State and they also only play them once and that is the second to last game.
If they stumble early it will be against a team that should finish behind them and could put them behind in the race for the top. Their schedule might be the easiest schedule of any of the contenders early on and the Vols need to take advantage of it.
If they continue to play like they have they could easily be 12-0 in the SEC and 23-1 heading into their February 16th matchup at Kentucky. They could have also obtained their next wish for Christmas by that time.