UT Vols basketball ranked No. 1 in Associated Press poll for second week

For the first time in program history, Tennessee basketball has spent back-to-back weeks as the nation's No. 1 team.

The Vols (18-1, 6-0 SEC) retained the top ranking in the Associated Press poll with wins against Vanderbilt and West Virginia last week. Tennessee claimed the top spot last Monday, marking the second time in UT history it held the No. 1 spot. 

Tennessee received 48 of 64 first-place votes for the second week in a row.

UT also is No. 1 in the USA TODAY coaches poll, netting 31 of 32 first-place votes.

Duke is ranked No. 2, Virginia is No. 3, Gonzaga is No. 4 and Michigan is No. 5 in both polls.

The No. 1 ranking came with its challenges, as Vanderbilt pushed UT and held a six-point lead with 1:32 to play. But the Vols came back and won in overtime behind Grant Williams' 43 points.

UT routed West Virginia on Saturday after a slow start to move its winning streak to 14 games.

The Vols have two road games this week, facing South Carolina (10-9, 5-1) on Tuesday (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) and Texas A&M on Saturday.

Before this season, Tennessee had spent three weeks in program history ranked in the top three of the AP poll. All three came in the 2007-08 season.

Tennessee reached the No. 3 ranking this season after beating then-No. 1 Gonzaga in early December. The Vols haven't lost since then, holding the spot throughout the remainder of the month. 

Their only loss came to Kansas on Nov. 23 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tennessee opened the season ranked No. 6, then rose to No. 5 after two weeks.

UT opened with blowouts against Lenoir-Rhyne and Louisiana. It then won hard-fought games against Georgia Tech and Louisville before falling to Kansas 87-81 in overtime and dropping to No. 6.

The Vols won two more blowouts after losing to Kansas, but slipped to No. 7 after Michigan rose to No. 5. They jumped to No. 3 after beating former No. 1 Gonzaga.

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