The Tennessee Vols' seven game winning streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon thanks to an 85-81 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Despite the loss, the Vols are still the SEC regular season champs as they clinched the regular season title via their road win against the South Carolina Gamecocks last week.
Tennessee entered last week ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll. After the loss to Kentucky, 247Sports is predicting that the Vols will fall to No. 5 in the new AP Top 25 poll that will be released on Monday.
247Sports predicts that North Carolina, which beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday evening, will jump the Vols in the AP Top 25.
From 247Sports: Tennessee clinched the regular-season title in the SEC with a mid-week win at South Carolina, but returned home Saturday and suffered a tough, 85-81, setback against Kentucky. It was a 1-1 split against top-20 teams for the Volunteers, who remain very much in play for a No. 1 seed if they're able to take advantage of their double bye in the conference tournament and cut down the nets next weekend.
If Tennessee wins the SEC Tournament, the Vols will undoubtedly be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They could still be in play for a No. 1 seed if they lose in the SEC Tournament championship game.
Either way, the Vols are in a good spot as March Madness gets underway. Losing to Kentucky wasn't ideal, but it doesn't change the fact that this Tennessee basketball team is capable of winning a national championship.
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