Tennessee Basketball: Vols continue to be doubted among voters

The AP Top 25 was released earlier today, with the Tennessee Volunteers staying put at No. 3 in the country. This proves one thing – the Volunteers continue to be doubted.

The Tennessee Volunteers played in two games this week, winning both of those games in easy fashion. Those two wins put the Volunteers at 10-1 on the season.

No. 1 Kansas lost on the road on Saturday night to Arizona State, opening up an opportunity for Tennessee to move up to either No. 1 or No. 2 in the country. But after the AP Top 25 was released on Monday morning, the Volunteers stayed put at No. 3 in the country, as the Michigan Wolverines jumped Tennessee.

While I understand Michigan moving up, I don’t understand them jumping Tennessee, especially after this past week. Yes, I know, Michigan is still undefeated, but no, I don’t think they are a better team than Tennessee currently. I understand that it’s fairly early in the season and rankings don’t really matter until March rolls around, it still shows me that Tennessee continues to be doubted by those around the nation.

Why the Vols should’ve moved up

Tennessee should’ve moved up in the AP Top 25 poll this past week and there’s no doubt about it. Tennessee not only makes the argument to be the No. 2 team in the nation, but they also have the argument to be the No. 1 team.

I made this argument earlier on Twitter but will put it into argument form here. Both Tennessee and Michigan had games this week in which they won. Tennesse easily beat Samford and Wake Forest, while Michigan blew out Air Force. Tennessee ended the week with a 10-1 record, while Michigan has a 12-0 record.

The fact of the matter is that both Tennessee and Michigan did the same thing this past week that they did the week before, yet Tennessee was ranked over Michigan. So what puts Michigan over Tennessee this week? I have no idea, yet they were placed at No. 2 over Tennessee.

Michigan’s strength of schedule doesn’t look great at all right now, as it sits at 103 in the country. On the other hand, Tennessee has the ninth-best SOS in the country, so that itself can’t put the Wolverines over the Volunteers.

Michigan has three ranked wins, but two of those wins are against teams that aren’t currently ranked anymore. They have wins against Purdue and Villanova who were ranked at the times the two teams played each other. Purdue now has five losses, while Villanova has four losses. Michigan’s other quality win against North Carolina is a great win, but North Carolina also currently has three losses, which includes one this past Saturday to Kentucky.

Their win against North Carolina also came on their home floor, while the Volunteers win against a top-ranked foe came on a neutral site floor with Gonzaga’s fans outnumber Tennessee fans in Arizona greatly.

Vols have history of being doubted

While the Volunteers are one of the best teams in the nation this season and have a legitimate shot at the National Championship, they are still sort of doubted by voters, but recent history shows that this basketball team is used to it.

Last year, the Volunteers were picked to finish 13th in the SEC, and we all know how that ended up finishing out. Tennessee ended up sharing the SEC Regular Season title and finishing with a record of 26-9.

The Volunteers went from being the hunters in the SEC to being the hunted. While they were able to earn that respect in the SEC, it seems like they will have to continue to show their relevance throughout the country. Wes Rucker puts it perfectly below:

Two weeks ago, many Volunteers fans, as well as a good number of AP voters, thought that Tennessee would be at No. 2 over Duke, considering Tennessee beat Gonzaga and Gonzaga beat Duke, while Tennessee’s lone loss was to No. 1 Kansas.

If the AP Top 25 Poll wants to gain relevance among Vol Nation, they might want to be consistent with their rankings and show the recognition that the Tennessee Volunteers deserve.