9. Tennessee (11-4)
Last week: 10
The bad news is the Volunteers lost on the road to an unranked team. The good news is that’s not especially alarming since everybody is doing it these days — and UT did just wreck previously unbeaten Ole Miss by 26 points four days earlier. The best news is Tennessee finally got
Dalton Knecht going again — and kept red-hot
Zakai Zeigler going — in that loss to
Mississippi State on Wednesday night. Knecht and Zeigler combined for 54 points, including 42 in the second half alone. The Bulldogs led by 14 points with 15 minutes to go, then the Vols’ dynamic duo took over. Knecht scored 26 points in the second half, and his dunk with 34 seconds left tied the game.
That was huge, even if Tennessee couldn’t complete the comeback. Knecht had scored in single digits four of the previous five games after dropping 21 in a win over Illinois (and previously 24 in a win at Wisconsin, 37 in a loss at UNC). Rick Barnes needs Knecht to be a reliable scorer alongside Zeigler, whose recent rise to an All-SEC (if not All-America) level of play continued Wednesday with 26 points, seven assists and three steals against Mississippi State. Zeigler is averaging 18.6 points, 6.8 assists, 2.6 steals and shooting 43 percent from 3 the last five games. So no, we haven’t changed our opinion that it’ll be UT, UK and Auburn battling for an SEC championship this season. – Tucker