20. Tennessee (7-3)
Tennessee has become one of the old reliable programs in the SEC during its strength in recent years. The Volunteers got this season off to a hot start at 7-0, including a really nice performance against Houston out at the Players Era Festival. Unfortunately, their performance against Kansas in the third place game was their first loss and started a downward trend for this program.
The second loss of their young season came as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge, as the Volunteers lost 62-60 at Syracuse back on Tuesday. Jaylen Carey starred off the bench with 22 points and 9 rebounds but Tennessee choose a bad time for their worst offensive performance of the season. Saturday in Nashville didn’t go any better, as Tennessee fell 75-62 to Illinois despite significantly outrebounding the Illini. Ja’Kobi Gillespie continued his brilliant start with 15 points but the Volunteers were left scratching their heads in another loss.
Now suddenly losers of three straight games, Tennessee suddenly has a ton of question marks with their recent play. Let’s not pretend like Tennessee is getting beaten bad or upset, this did come against some quality foes, but Rick Barnes expect his team to win these types of games more often than not. The last few weeks have at least tested the Volunteers, as they’ve earned a nice week and a half off before seeing Louisville on December 16th.