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Could Tennessee Basketball be the best team in the SEC in 2020-21?

By Colton Pickard

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during the second half against the Colgate Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on during the second half against the Colgate Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Basketball struggled throughout the 2019-20 season, but we could see a major comeback season this fall.

After this past season, some may worry if Tennessee Basketball could get back to where they were one year ago. We might not ever see another Grant Williams or Admiral Schofield, but we could definitely see similar success.

Some experts think that success could come sooner rather than later; in fact, it could be as soon as the 2020-21 season.

Andy Katz released his first top 36 power rankings for the 2020-21 season, and the Vols are sitting pretty good at No.16. Katz even went as far as to say that the Vols should be near the top of the SEC.

"“The Volunteers’ last two wins of the season were over Florida and at Kentucky,” Katz wrote. “Only two seniors were on the roster. The Vols have a top-five recruiting class led by Jaden Springer. Tennessee should be picked No. 1 or No. 2 in the SEC.”"

No.1 or 2 in the SEC? Wow, coming off of this past season, I wouldn’t even think that Tennessee is ready to be back at the top of the SEC.

Of course, I’m not opposed to Tennessee continuing to beat up on SEC rivals in both football and basketball. We knew that the 2019-20 season was going to be a difficult one, but I think it was worse than many still expected, especially after Tennessee’s good start to the season.

So if Tennessee is ranked 16th in this power rankings, where do they stand compared to other SEC teams? Well, Kentucky is ranked ninth, which is the best among teams in the SEC, and Tennessee has the second-best ranking, and Florida is ranked 29th.

Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida are the only SEC teams to be in the top 36 rankings; I’d say that’s pretty good company for Tennessee. The Vols finished this past season, beating both teams.

At No.16, Tennessee is squeezed in between North Carolina at 15 and Texas Tech at 17, two worthy teams that the Vols have been compared two over the past few years.

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This is the first real projection or power ranking that I have seen for the 2020-21 season, so to see the Vols all the way up at No.16 means we could see very good things for the future of Tennessee basketball.

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