NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Houston lead in updated way-too-early top 25 ranking
By Joey Loose
14. Tennessee
Tennessee has been a phenomenal program in recent years, especially on the defensive side of the basketball. Last year’s Volunteers squad won 27 games and boasted one of the top defenses in the nation, while also winning the SEC Tournament title. However, the Volunteers were upset yet again in the NCAA Tournament, something that’s now happened four times in the last five seasons.
The Volunteers lose a few important pieces, including leading scorer Kennedy Chandler, but do return a ton of talent from last year’s team. Santiago Vescovi (13.3 ppg last year) and Josiah-Jordan James are a pair of senior guards who will do plenty of scoring for the Volunteers. Rick Barnes had great success on the recruiting trail, bringing 5-star forward Julian Phillips to Knoxville next season. They also should be getting some pretty sweet contributions from Tyreke Key, a combo guard who starred for four years at Indiana State.
This team has depth and has a talented backcourt, though they will be expecting players like sophomore Zakai Zeigler to take a big step forward next season. There are some young faces on this roster that will look to make an impact, but it’s all going to come down to an offense that struggled mightily at times last season. This team will play a role in deciding the SEC crown, but they can’t depend on scoring just 60 points to win games for much longer.