UT Vols basketball drops in polls after Kentucky loss

Tennessee basketball is not the No. 1 team in the country anymore.

The Vols dropped to No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY coaches polls after their 86-69 loss at Kentucky on Saturday. It was Tennessee's second loss of the season.

Tennessee (23-2, 11-1 SEC) was ranked No. 1 for the past four weeks. Duke is the new No. 1 team in the country; Gonzaga is ranked No. 2; Virginia is No. 3; and Kentucky moved up to No. 4.

The Vols were No. 3 for six weeks before moving to No. 1. The No. 5 ranking in the AP poll is UT's lowest since it was No. 7 in the first week of December.

The Vols face Vanderbilt (9-16, 0-12) on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) before a trip to No. 15 LSU (21-4, 11-1) on Saturday.

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

GO VOLS XTRA:All your crucial Tennessee headlines and scores delivered to your inbox

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, kept winning and held the No. 3 spot until rising to No. 1.

UT went undefeated in December and January before falling at Kentucky on Feb. 16.

DOWNLOAD THE APP:Get UT basketball news on your mobile device