Hoops Central: #12 Tennessee at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 12th-ranked Tennessee men's basketball team travels north to the Bluegrass State for its first road contest of the season, facing Louisville on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is for 12:00 p.m. ET at KFC Yum! planned. Center.

Fans can watch Saturday's game between the Vols (1-0) and Cardinals (1-0) on ACC Network. Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Eric Devendorf (analyst) will take the call.

Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate as Bob Kesling and Steve Hamer describe the action.

The Volunteers officially started their 2024-25 campaign on Monday night with an 80-64 victory over Gardner-Webb.

Fifth year guard Chaz LanierHe scored a team-high 18 points in his program debut for UT, which never trailed and led for all but 62 seconds while improving to 35-3 all-time in its home opener at Food City Center.

THE MATCHUP
• This will be the 21st meeting between the two schools, with Tennessee winning the first six games between 1913 and 1922 but Louisville winning 12 of the last 14.
• The Volunteers went 1-11 against the Cardinals between 1927 and 2008 Rick Barnes led them to a 92-81 victory at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, NY on 11/21/18 behind Grant Williams' 24 points.
• Tennessee and Louisville last met on campus on Jan. 22, 2005, with the Cardinals winning 85-62 at home.
• After an 8-24 (3-17) record last season, Louisville, now under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey, was ranked ninth in the ACC preseason poll.
• The Cardinals return just two total points from their 2023-24 roster, but added 16 newcomers, including 15 transfers, in the offseason.
• Tennessee is 122-101 all-time against current ACC schools and has beaten all but one of them, Notre Dame (0-1), at least once.
• Rick Barnes is 81-77 in his career compared to current ACC programs, including 11-5 at Tennessee.

CARDINAL CONNECTIONS
• Former Tennessee head coach Wade Houston, who led the Volunteers from 1989 to 1994, is a Louisville alumnus who served as an assistant for the Cardinals for 13 seasons (1976 to 1989) before joining Rocky Top. Houston, a native of nearby Alcoa, Tennessee, was the first black men's basketball coach in the SEC and one of the first three black men's basketball players at Louisville, along with two 1962 classmates.
• In March 2019 Rick Barnes created the Wade Houston Leadership Award, presented to the team member who best exemplifies leadership qualities, a team-oriented approach and an exemplary work ethic. Zakai Zeigler is the two-time reigning award winner.
• Allan Houston, Wade's son, is UT's all-time leading scorer with 2,801 points, second best in SEC history. He is one of two – the other being VFL colleague Ernie Grunfeld – to be named to the First Team All-SEC four times in the history of the league. Houston is among six UT letterwinners from Louisville, as is 1952-53 team captain Hank Bertelkamp.

NEWS & NOTES
• Louisville (third) and Tennessee (fifth) are 240 miles apart and play in two of the five largest college basketball arenas in the country.
• Rick Barnes (203-101) is one win away from pushing Don DeVoe (204-137 from 1978-89) into second place on UT's all-time list.
• Tennessee is 5-2 in its last seven road games Rick Barnes.
• Tennessee's 172 wins over the last eight years (2017-25) ranks eighth nationally, alongside Liberty and Saint Mary's. Only Gonzaga (214), Houston (209), Kansas (192), Duke (186), Purdue (183), San Diego State (178) and Virginia (177) have more.
• Tennessee, which won the SEC regular-season title and made it to the Elite Eight in 2023-24, finished 27-9. It was the third time in the last six years (2018-24). Rick Barnes UT won more than 27 games. This tally had only been achieved twice before his arrival.
• The Volunteers ranked fifth in KenPom, the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll last season, posting a program-best mark in the first two and a top mark in the second.

COLLECT RANKING WINS
• TOP 25: Over the last four years (2021-25), Tennessee leads all SEC teams with 20 AP Top 25 wins, four more than any other SEC program (Texas has 16). That mark ranks fourth nationally and Tennessee is one of just five schools with more than 18 wins, along with Kansas (22), Connecticut (21), Iowa State (21) and Purdue (20).
• TOP 20: Tennessee has 18 AP Top 20 wins during that span, five more than any other SEC school (Texas has 13) and third in DI. The Volunteers are one of only five teams with over 16 players, along with Connecticut (20), Kansas (19), Purdue (17) and Iowa State (16).
• TOP 15: The Volunteers have earned 15 AP top-15 picks in those four seasons, tied for second-most in the country and four more than any other SEC program (Alabama has 11). The only team in America with more is Kansas (17), while only Iowa State (13) and Purdue (12) are even within three points of UT.
• TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee has joined North Carolina in eight AP Top 10 triumphs, top spots in the SEC and fifth nationally. Only Connecticut (10), Iowa State (10), Kansas (10) and Purdue (9) have more. The eight such wins during this time are #1 Alabama (02/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (02/26/22), #4 Kentucky (02/15/22). ), #5 Kentucky (03/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21), #10 Texas (01/28/23) and at #10 Kentucky (02/03/24).
• TOP FIVE: Over the same four-year period, UT has earned five AP Top 5 wins, tied with Alabama and Arizona for the most in the country. Only two other schools, Iowa State and Gonzaga, have even four.

HIGH CALIBER COMPANY
• Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Houston, Kansas and Purdue are the only seven teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in three of the last four seasons (2021-25). Only the Volunteers, Wildcats, Jayhawks and Boilermakers did so every year from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
• Additionally, Tennessee, Alabama, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston and Kansas are the only six schools to have finished in the AP top six in at least four of the last five years (2020-25).
• UT joins Alabama, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas and Kentucky as one of just eight teams to finish in the AP top six in at least five of the last seven seasons (2018-25). These join Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia as eight of the only 12 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the last seven years (2018-25).
• Tennessee joins Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and North Carolina as one of just five schools to earn an AP top 20 ranking in each of the last eight years (2017-25). Only three others — Kentucky, Michigan State and Villanova — have even cracked the AP top 25 in each of those seasons.

WAYS TO WIN
• Over the past seven seasons (2017-24), Tennessee has topped all SEC programs in total wins (171) and ranked first in postseason wins (18), while ranking a close second in winning percentage (.722). lies. During that span, UT has won three SEC titles, winning the 2018 and 2024 regular seasons and the 2022 tournament.
• Over the same seven-year period, the Vols are one of only two SEC schools, along with Auburn (.723), with an overall winning percentage above .700.
• In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (86-39; .688) ranks second in the league in both wins and winning percentage, behind Kentucky (87-38; .696). Only Auburn (81-45; .643) and Alabama (78-48; .619) even have over 70 wins.
• In the last three seasons alone (2021-24), UT holds an overall record of 79-28 (.7383). That's good for the most wins and the best win percentage of any SEC team in that span. Auburn finished second at 76-27 (.7379) during that time.
• Over the same three-year period, Tennessee (39-15; .722) is tied with Kentucky for the best record in conference play among SEC teams.

SURVEY volumes
• Tennessee has appeared in every AP poll since the 2021-22 preseason rankings, a total of 60 consecutive releases, far surpassing the previous program record of 37 from March 1999 to February 2001. The Volunteers were in the top 10 on 32 of those 59 releases, including the top five 13 times.
• UT's 60-week streak is the third-longest in the country, trailing only Houston (86) and Kansas (65). The only other team even over 45 is Arizona (58).
• Based on the 2020-21 preseason poll, UT has posted 74 of 77 releases (not the final three of 2020-21) with 38 top-10 finishes and still 13 in the top five.
• UT finished fourth last season, rose to second place in the 2022-23 season, finished a season-best fifth place in the 2021-22 season and even finished sixth in the 2020-21 season.
• The Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in 2018-19, have been in the AP's top six in hits in five of the last seven years (2018-25), including each of the last four completed campaigns (2020-24). This is their sixth times in the program's history Rick Barnes'Term.
• UT has been ranked in the AP top five in four of the last seven seasons (2018-25), including each of the last three completed seasons (2021-24). He achieved this feat five times before Barnes' arrival (2007-2008, 2000-2001, 1999-2000, 1967-68 and 1958-59).
• The 2024-25 campaign marks the eighth consecutive season Tennessee has been ranked in the top 20 of the AP Rankings. The previous program record was seven consecutive seasons (1966–67 to 1972–73).
• UT's 15-week AP Top 10 streak (12/18/23 to 4/9/24) to conclude the 2023-24 campaign was the second-longest in program history. Three of the Vols' five all-time double-digit streaks have come since 2018-19 Rick Barnes.