Projected college basketball rankings after shorthanded Tennessee topples Florida
Despite home court advantage, the Tennessee Volunteers had every reason to stumble in Saturday's Top 10 showdown with the Florida Gators. Instead, they posted arguably their most impressive performance of the season.
Ahead of tip off, the Volunteers saw their injury report go from bad to worse. Zakai Zeigler was already slated to miss out with a knee injury. Then flu-like symptoms sidelined Igor Milicic. Zeigler leads the team in assists. Milicic leads in rebounds. Both average better than 10 points per game.
Tennessee only had seven scholarship players available but they didn't play like they were shorthanded. Chaz Lanier went 5-of-9 from beyond the arc while the Vols shutdown defense stifled the Gators, who shot 24.5 percent from the field.
It's that defense that continues to impress despite recent stumbles. Had they lost to Florida, Tennessee would have fallen four times in five games and back-to-back at home. A losing record in the SEC would have been hard to stomach. It's a good thing for the Vols they don't have to worry about any of that now.
As far as the polls go, the Volunteers likely avoided a tumble out of the Top 10 with Saturday's win.
Projected college basketball Top 25 after Tennessee routs Florida
- Auburn Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Houston Cougars
- Michigan State Spartans
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Florida Gators
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- St. John's Red Storm
- Memphis Tigers
- Missouri Tigers
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Oregon Ducks
- Louisville Cardinals
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Vanderbilt
- UConn Huskies
Florida has a better record than Tennessee. Still, I've got the Vols ahead on the strength of their schedule. Both of these teams lost to Kentucky but the Vols held Auburn to just 53 points in a two-point loss. And they avenged their blowout loss to the Gators despite several key players missing.
Tennessee's next week includes hosting Missouri and heading to Oklahoma. That's a relative breather compared to their two seek stretch of playing top 15 teams.
Florida's gauntlet is just beginning. They host Vanderbilt and then head to Auburn to face No. 1.
feed